Candle Care - How to look after your candles

Here at Lilac & Co, we are all about getting the maximum amount of life out of your candles as possible. Here are a few tips we have put together to help keep your candle burning.

• Trim your wicks before every light

This is an extremely important tip. Make sure you trim your wicks at least 1/2cm away from the wax. This ensures that the flame doesn't get too big, and the candle doesn't burn too hot. The hotter the candle burns, the more likely it is to 'tunnel' through the wax, and cut the life of the candle short. To do this, grab a wick cutter, place it over the wick, and in one cut, remove excess wick as smoothly as possible.

• Ensure you burn the full surface area of the candle the first time

Just like humans, wax has a 'memory'. When you first pull your candle out of its box, ensure that you not only trim the wick (as mentioned above), but you also light the candle and ensure it burns the entire surface area of the wax. As well as letting the candle burn the entire surface area, you'll want to make sure that it pools a little bit as well. This not only help keep the scent evenly mix through the wax, but it allows the wax to form a 'memory', and ensures that the flame won't 'tunnel' through the wax.

You'll also want to make sure that you don't burn the candle for more than 4 hours at a time. This ensures that the wick stays nice and fresh each and every light, but also ensures that the glass (or container) doesn't get too hot and explode or course damage or fire. 

Click here to buy our Candle Care Kit

By regularly using our Candle Care kit, you'll be giving your candle the best life possible.

• Avoid moving a burning candle

While it may be self-explanatory, this tip may be sometimes overlooked. Not only could it cause a serious fire or health risk to you and your home, but it may also damage the integrity of the wick, and cause the candle to stop burning. Our candles are made from extremely high quality wax, with an estimated burn time of 35 hours for our single wick candles. By not moving the candle while it's burning, you ensure that the melted wax doesn't mix over the wick, and 'flood' it. You'll be able to light it properly each time after, and you won't have to worry about the wick falling into the wax from being too heavy. 

• Bonus tip: How to fix stubborn wax that won't burn

As an extra tip here, we are going to share with you a way to get your candle back to it's normal self if you have any stubborn wax stuck to the sides of the container, or that just won't burn

What you'll need:

1. Your candle
2. Some aluminium foil
3. A wick cutter (recommended) or scissors
4. A lighter

Method:

Firstly, you'll want to make sure your candle's wax is completely hard, and that you've trimmed the wick to be at least 1/2cm away from the wax (if it is less, that doesn't matter, just ensure it's no more). 

Secondly, wrap the top of your candle in the aluminium foil, ensuring there is still a wide hole left at the top. (Warning: Do not wrap the entire candle in foil is it may cause the container to explode and may cause death, fire or serious damage)

Thirdly, light your candle as normal, and leave it for approx 2 hours. The heat caused by the flame will be 'trapped' for longer in the candles container, causing a bigger heat surface to help melt that stubborn wax.

This tip does require some patience, however, if you follow our steps above, you'll help ensure the life of your candle is lived out to its fullest.

If you have any tips of your own, or you have any comments to share, you can email us at info@lilacandco.com or leave a comment below.