So you've made or purchased a natural candle? Soy Wax? Beeswax? Coconut Wax? Rapeseed Wax? Welcome to the natural candle squad.
Here are some of our top tips on caring for your new natural soy wax candles
When you burn your soy wax candle for the first time, it's important to burn it for at least 2 hours. You want the wax to burn all the way to the edge of the vessel. Soy wax can be known to have a "memory". Failing to burn all the way to the edge means that the next time you burn your candle, it tends to burn within the constraints of its first burn. If you never reach the edge, your candle will "tunnel" and there'll be a tonne of wax at the edge that is never used. No one wants that.
Between burns, it's really important to trim your wood wick. The dead wood is literally that, dead wood. Keeping your wick trim limits the amount of wood (fuel) available for burning. This results in a more even burn and less soot emanating from your candle.
Changes to the appearance of your candle is natural. The beauty of natural soy wax is that it's versatile. The thing is, when making soy wax candles and pouring by hand, bubbles are bound to be created. These bubbles result in "sink" type holes in candles when burned. Whilst every effort is made to reduce this in the candle making process, at Selfmade Candle we like to celebrate the beauty of the natural forms soy wax and other natural wax take when melted.
For us naughty candle burners out there who leave them burning for longer than 3/4 hours at a time, we know that the candle vessels get hot hot hot. Mitigate the risk of accidents by placing your candle on a heat resistant surface where possible.
If you have a cotton based wick - think of those more traditional candle wicks, then dip it in the wax to extinguish as opposed to blowing it out. This will stop the wick from smoking when extinguished and also provide a great wick surface to burn when lighting the candle again. For those who've made the switch to wood wicks, I'd recommend a candle snuffer. It looks boujie AF but does genuinely help with reducing the amount of smoke produced when you extinguish your candle.
Hope these 5 tips on how to care for your natural soy wax candles helps you! I know they help me. For more of these tips, don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter using the form in the footer of the page. You can also subscribe to the Selfmade Candle Youtube here for more candle advice for the modern day maker.
Stay Lit!