Candle Safety and Maintenance

It may seem really obvious, but attention paid to proper candle burning and maintenance will increase safety and the overall enjoyment of your scented candle.

CANDLE MAINTENANCE

Keep the wick trimmed to 1/4″. This reduces soot and smoke and improves wick performance. If you’ve ever seen a black clumpy mass on the end of your wick, this is carbon buildup referred to as “mushrooming.” The mushroom can impede the wick’s performance to burn cleanly and reduce its ability to draw up fresh wax for a better burn.
To keep your wick trimmed, use a wick trimmer, nail clippers, or scissors. As mentioned elsewhere on Dude Candle, long or mushroomed wicks can cause uneven burning.
Be sure to trim your wick before lighting it to keep debris and trimmings out of a pool of melted wax.
Although most candle containers are safe against heat, using a candle holder, coaster, or container to set your candle in is always advised to collect unintended drips or pools of wax.
Never use a knife or sharp object to remove wax drippings from a glass holder. It might scratch, weaken, or cause the glass to break upon next use.

Use sound judgment and never leave a candle unattended. If you follow these tips, you’ll have the best Dude Candle experience.

BURNING

Avoid drafts, vents or air currents. This will help prevent rapid or uneven burning, sooting, and excessive dripping.
Best candle performance is achieved when burning for two hours at a time.
When lighting a candle, use a long lighter long match. Be sure to keep hair and loose clothing away from the flame.
Never leave a candle unattended.
Never burn a candle on or near anything that can catch fire such as furniture, drapes, bedding or other flammable materials.
Keep candles out of the reach of children and pets.
Discontinue burning a candle when 1/2 inch of wax remains in the container.
If you’re burning more than one candle, keep them at least three inches apart from one another. This ensures they don’t melt each other or create their own drafts that will cause the candles to burn improperly.

EXTINGUISH

Extinguish a candle if the flame becomes too high or flickers repeatedly. Let the candle cool, trim the wick, and check for unwanted drafts before re-lighting.
Never use a candle as a night light or while you may fall asleep.
Be very careful if using candles during a power outage. Flashlights and other battery-powered lights are safer sources of light during a power failure. Never use a candle during a power outage to look for things in a closet, or when fueling equipment – such as a lantern or generator.
Never use water to extinguish a candle. Water can cause the hot wax to splatter and might break a glass container.
Make sure the candle is completely out and the wick ember is no longer glowing before leaving the room.
Don’t touch or move the candle until it has completely cooled.

WRAPPING UP

As you can read, this should be obvious safety tips, but there may be something in there you haven’t considered before. Use sound judgment and never leave a candle unattended. If you follow these tips, you’ll have the best Dude Candle experience.