E&M's Hand Poured Candles

Hand crafted and hand poured scented candles

Candle Care

A How-To Guide to Care for Your Candles

Preventing Fires

Remove any candle topping that is not made of wax before lighting to prevent an unwanted fire.

Never leave a burning candle unattended. If you leave the room or are going to fall asleep, extinguish the candle.

Keep the wick trimmed to 1/4 inch at all times. This helps control the flame height. Too big of a flame causes the candle to burn too hot, which is not safe for the candle or the space around the candle.

Do not let the candle burn all the way to the bottom, leave about 1/2 inch of wax at the bottom of the candle. This is important so that the container does not overheat and cause damage to itself or the surrounding area.

Never burn the candle on or near anything that can catch fire. Keep burning candles away from pets, children, curtains, furniture, carpet, or other flammable materials.

Do not touch, pick up, or move the candle while it is lit. Moving the candle while it has melted wax can cause the wax to spill out of the container and burn you. Wait until the candle has completely cooled before moving.

Preventing Tunneling

To prevent tunneling, allow the candle to burn for a while (about 2 to 4 hours.) Let the pool of wax reach the edge of the container before putting the candle out. This prevents a memory ring from forming. If a memory ring forms, the next time you go to burn your candle, the wax will remember where it was melted to and only melt to that point. Lighting your candle time after time with a memory ring results in tunneling.

Storing Candles

When you are not burning the candle, keep the lid on it. This helps prevent dust and other debris from getting into the candle and it helps prevent the candle from losing its fragrance.

If you do not plan on burning the candle for a period of time, store the candle in a cool dark place with the lid closed. This helps prevent the candle from losing its fragrance or color. It is best to burn your candle within 12-16 months of buying it.

Reusing the Candle Container

If you want to reuse the container of the candle, you can easily get the wax out by placing the container in a pot of boiling water. Make sure the water level in the pot is no deeper than an inch of water. You do not want the bubbling of the water to knock the container over or bubble water into the container. Once the wax is melted, turn down the heat and carefully remove the container from the pot with a towel, oven mitt, or other heat resistant material. Carefully pour the wax out. Do not pour the wax down any drain or into a toilet, this can cause a clog. You can wipe down the container with a paper towel that is dampened with rubbing alcohol to get it clean.

Another way to remove wax from the container is by letting the wax cool completely and then placing the candle in the freezer overnight. Placing the candle in the freezer causes the wax to shrink and then you can easily pop the wax out of the container. If there are pieces of wax left, you can use a butter knife to try and remove them.