candle care tips
CANDLE CARE
To enjoy your candles safely and to their fullest, always make sure you adhere to the following best practices. They will help you increase the overall burning time of your candle. Failure to respect them may lead to hazard, injury or property damage. (Find much more detail on our Heart of Europe Candles blog page!)
​
-
Always burn your candle within sight.
-
Keep candle away from drafts, and out of reach of children and pets.
-
Always place your candle on a suitable holder, as well as on a heat resistant surface.
-
Straighten the wick before you light it for the first time.
-
If your pillar candles happen to burn unevenly, try so called "candle hugging". Once you blow your candle out, gently push the tall mantle of the candle towards the middle, so that the wax gets consumed next time. It also helps prevent leakage.
-
Embrace the bloom! Has you beeswax candle developed a whitish sheen? That's alright. It's called the bloom, and it's a characteristic of good quality beeswax. You can read more about it here.
-
For container candles, the duration of first burn should be around 3 to 4 hours (depending on the size of the candle). Wax has memory and if you do not allow for a big enough first melt pool, the candle will start to tunnel. (A thin layer of wax on the walls is ok, the inside of the glass vessel will grow hotter and hotter as the flame descends, and will eventually dissolve the layer of remaining wax.)
-
Do not burn for more than 4 hours at a time.
-
Do not move burning or recently extinguished candle.
-
Trim the wick with scissors regularly, or before next use when the flame is too high.
-
Discontinue use when there is about 6-8 mm of wax left.
ZERO WASTE
Wasting as little material as possible throughout the whole process is important to me. I collect wax scraps during candle making, as well as leftover wax from used candles, and make tealights from them! If you live in Brussels and pick up your candles in person, you can return leftover wax and jars to me.
​
-
Collect leftover wax and/or jars and return them to me for zero waste approach. I'll give you a special deal on your new candle!
-
There are tips on how to remove wax stuck to your glass holder on my FAQ page, as well as instructions on how to clean leftover wax from your glass vessels so that you can reuse them for something else in your home!
CANDLE REFILL OPTION
If you are available and willing to pick up your candles in person, we have good news for you! You can enjoy beautiful candles AND be nice to the planet! You can have your candle refilled for a better price.
​
​
How to get a candle refill?
​
-
When you are making your next order, choose the Candle refill product, instead of a new candle.
-
Enjoy a better price!
-
Choose the “Handover in person option”. After we’ve received your order, we will be in touch for a handover in person where you will give us your used candle jar to have it refilled.
-
Your new candle will be ready within a week, and we will schedule a handover in person again.
​
We realise the above-mentioned process is a bit tedious, but it is important to us to have this option for our environment-conscious customers. We are looking into other possibilities, like making a candle refill insert that could be sold and shipped just like any new candles. But we cannot make any promises for now.
Do you want to repurpose your candle jars? A tutorial on how to clean used candle jars is now available on our blog!
​