Jan 21, 2022
Candle Care Guide: How To Make Them Last
Everyone loves to walk into a room and be greeted by twinkling candlelight. Whether you have glittering candles in your entryway to greet your guests as they step into your home or you place candles in your bedroom to add a soft glow and fill your room with a romantic ambiance, candles are the perfect way to add a touch of elegance to your home.
Here at Venus ET Fleur, our luxury candles are made from some of the finest perfume oils in the world. Choose from our classic Rose Blanche, our deep Nue Tuberose, or our signature Rose Oud candle to experience beautiful floral fragrance right from your home.
If you love using candles and have some favorites that you like to burn, you will want to learn how to care for your candles so that you can enjoy their beauty for as long as possible. Once you read our candle care guide, you will be able to invite your loved ones into your home, filled with amazing floral fragrance, and have them know how much you care about your space.
Therefore, to maximize the benefits from your favorite candles, we have put together a special candle care guide so that you can learn how to care for your candles and how to make your luxury candles last for a long time.
How To Choose the Perfect Candle
When it comes to choosing the perfect candle for your home, there are many details to consider. First, try to determine where you want to place your candle and how it will match your home decor.
Candles come in various shapes and sizes, inside an array of gorgeous vessels. With everything from tall sculpture candles to charming votives, you can never go wrong with the type of candle you choose.
If you want to add dimension to your home, open for a taller candle, such as a taper candle or pillar candle. Pillar candles are taller and have a sturdier base, making them perfect for a larger decor centerpiece in your home. On the other hand, taper candles are taller and slender and fit beautifully in gorgeous, ornate candleholders on a long table or atop your mantle.
Tea lights and votive candles are ideal for decorating a smaller space, such as a dresser or end table. At Venus ET Fleur, our Votive Bundle set features our three signature scents. This charming trio of candles will create a symphony of stunning floral aromas and will add the perfect touch of elegance to your home.
What Do You Want Your Candle To Smell Like?
Last but not least, you should also consider scent when choosing the perfect candle for your home. We recommend thinking about the emotions you want to feel when smelling your new stunning candles.
If you want to feel calm and relaxed, our New Tuberose candle is perfect for adding warm notes of floral fragrance to your space. For a candle with bright scents, opt for our Rose Blanche candle, which features hints of dramatic peppery geranium and zesty cinnamon. If you want a candle to spark some romance in your life, the fragrance from our Rose Oud candle is evocative of a single delicate flower nestled in the middle of a peaceful forest.
Whichever luxury candle you choose, you will be sure to fall in love with its stunning floral fragrance.
How To Care for Your Candles
Candles are loved for their glorious fragrance and their effortless beauty. When it comes to caring for your candles, several tips and tricks will help your candles stay looking clean, crisp, and new.
We will walk you through all of the steps you need to take precious care of your candles, including everything from the first burn to trimming your wicks.
Burning Your Candle for the First Time
If you are getting ready to light a new candle for the first time, make sure to burn your candle long enough to create an even burn. This happens when the candle wax has melted across the entire top surface of your candle, up to the sides of the container.
Creating an even burn will help prevent the hot candle wax from tunneling or becoming uneven in certain areas. Tunneling can cause your candle to end up with a rim of solid wax that is difficult to melt, thus wasting the wax, and may even make it more difficult for your candle to light in the future.
Depending on the size of your candle, creating an even burn may take anywhere from two to three hours, but we promise it’s worth it. Not only does this look more visually appealing, but it will also make your candle last longer over time. If you burn your candle for too long, the wick may move away from the center of the candle or become slanted.
Also, make sure that you light your candle in a well-ventilated room and keep your candle away from fans, drafts, or windows. This can cause your flame to move around rapidly, causing sooting on the vessel or an uneven burn.
To make sure that your candle is burning properly, ensure that the flame is not flickering and is upright and teardrop-shaped. This means that your candle is burning efficiently and that the flame is controlled. If, for some reason, the flame is giving off smoke or is flickering too much, simply extinguish the flame, let the candle cool, and trim the wick.
Overall, keep an eye on your new candle to make sure that it is creating an even burn so that you will be set up for sweet-smelling success.
Trimming The Wick
One of the most important tips to remember when taking care of your candles is to take your time trimming and adjusting the wicks in your candle. The wick is the braided piece of cotton in the center of your candle that holds the flame.
If you are lighting your candle for the second time or any time after that, make sure that you trim the tip of the wick to about 1/4 to 1/8 inch high in order for your candle to produce the best burn.
Having a short wick will help you get the most use out of your candle, and it will help your candle have a cleaner burn. If the wick on your candle gets too long, this can cause a flame that is too large and can create a mushrooming effect, which can cause your candle to become dirty with soot.
Be sure to remember that the best time to trim your candle’s wick is before burning. You can also trim the wick after you have finished burning your candle. However, you must wait for the candle to cool down before it is safe to touch the wax.
Cleaning Your Candles
Now that you are an expert on candle burn time and trimming the wick, it is important to go over some basic candle cleaning tricks to help keep your candle looking as beautiful as possible.
After burning a candle two or three times, you may begin to notice some dark soot or dust inside the container or in the wax pool. Make sure that you clean out this debris as soon as you see it—once the candle is cooled off and the wax has hardened, of course.
You can use tweezers or a dry towel to wipe away or pluck out any unnecessary debris in your candle. Make sure to keep the wax area free from water and avoid using your fingers to wipe away the soot to prevent fingerprints from showing up on your candle’s vessel.
Candle Placement
Another key way to take care of your candles is to be mindful of where you place them. For example, if you are going to burn a candle in your home, make sure to place your candle on a heat-resistant surface, away from any windy areas.
If you begin to notice that your flame is flickering, this could be because your candle is too close to an air vent or window. Instead, move your candle to an area in your home with less wind or air movement.
Also, if you are lighting several candles in the same area, make sure that you keep them several inches apart so that they do not cause the others to overheat or melt.
Last but not least, when it comes to candle placement, make sure that you do not leave your candles unattended and do not keep them lit while you are sleeping. This will help you avoid any candle accidents and ensure that you experience all of the many benefits of your candles.
How Far Down Do I Burn My Candles
If you want to be able to keep and reuse your candle’s jar, it is critical to monitor your candle while it is burning and make sure that you don’t burn your candle all the way down. While it may be tempting to burn your candle as far down as possible, this can overheat your vessel, as the flame needs a solid base of wax to burn properly, and it could even cause a big mess.
Instead, once you have made it to the bottom of your candle, and you have about half an inch or small layer of wax left that you want to remove, simply pour a small amount of boiling water into the jar. This will then soften the wax and make it easy to remove.
Other ways to remove that last little bit of wax in your candle include using a mug warmer to burn off the rest of the wax or placing your candle in the freezer, causing the wax to shrink. You can then recycle your vessel and use it again to make your own candle or to use it for a planter.
Here at Venus ET Fleur, our candles come in a handmade, white porcelain vase, making them perfect for adding a sense of luxury to your home.
Extinguishing Your Candles Correctly
Once you are done burning your beautiful candle and are ready to put it out, you want to make sure that you do so safely and carefully.
Of course, you can blow out your candle with a gentle puff of air. However, make sure that you do not blow too hard, as this can cause the hot wax to splatter. Another way to extinguish your candle is to use a snuffer. If your candle came in a jar or came with a lid, gently place the lid back on top of your candle to extinguish the flame.
The last way to properly extinguish a candle is to use a special candle tool called a wick dipper. Simply use the wick dipper to briefly press your wick into the hot max, and then straighten it back up before it dries. This extinguishing method will prevent your candle from smoking and causing the scent to change.
How To Make Your Candles Last
Now that you know the basics of candle care, let’s dive into some tips and tricks to help make your candles last for as long as possible.
Store Your Candles Safely
One of the key ways to make sure that your candles last for as long as possible is to make sure that you are properly storing them. You’ll want to store your candles in a cool, dark, dry place so they will retain their fragrance and stay as fresh as possible.
While candles are unlikely to completely spoil, they can become discolored or lose part of their fragrance if stored in a place with too much heat or sunlight. Candles can even melt if kept in extreme heat, so make sure to do your best to avoid placing your candles near other heat sources, such as near your kitchen stove or in the attic.
Instead, find a comfortable room in your home that is usually at room temperature to store your candles. Remember that to experience your candles to the greatest extent, try to light them within one year of buying them.
Sprinkle in Some Salt
If you want to add life to your most beloved candle, a simple way to do this is by adding a pinch of salt to the melted wax. After you have burned your favorite candle for about an hour and the wax is hot and melted, blow out the candle and sprinkle in a few drops of salt into the melted wax.
Grab a toothpick or small tool from your kitchen and gently give the hot wax and salt a little stir. Adding the salt to the wax will help slow down your candle’s burn time when you light it up again.
Replacing The Wick
If, for some reason, you notice that your candle’s wick has broken off or is unable to be used, there are several simple ways to go about replacing the wick.
To replace your wick, start by removing the old wick using an apple corer tool, to wiggle the old wick out of your candle. Once you have removed the original wick and found the wax plug, you can use some twine to make your own wick or thread a new store-bought wick through the hole in the wax plug and into your candle.
By replacing the wick, you can get hours more time smelling your beautiful candles and appreciating their marvelous light.
Final Remarks
Now that you are an expert at taking care of your lovely candles, you can start to implement these tips and tricks into your routine. Every time you burn a candle from now on, you will be able to experience the greatest amount of life and beauty from them.
Remember to maintain the wicks on your candles to give them the best burn and immediately get rid of any soot or dust you see on them. Once you are finished using your candles, store them in a dark and cool area of your home.
Enjoy your stunning decorative candles and their glorious scents, and remember that if you take care of them, they will last for a long time to come.
Sources:
How To Make Your Own Candles At Home | House Beautiful
The Different Types Of Candles And Their Benefits And Specialties | Styles At Life
