FAQ

I encourage you to read the About link, but the short story is — Dude Candle® is a one man small business based in California on the central coast.

I work full time in the off road industry while growing Dude Candle after hours and on weekends. It initially started as a question mark. I had an idea, I thought it had some potential, but who knew for sure. I perform every aspect of the business – product development, photography, web design, packaging design, order processing, and shipping.

This little “experiment” surprised me since it’s initial launch in 2019, it surprisingly found a strong and enthusiastic response from consumers like you, so thank you! And that, is the short story answer.

Yes, Dude Candle offers wholesale accounts. Visit our Wholesale Application page (link at bottom of page) for details.

Yes, Dude Candle can provide a custom production run of candles with a minimum order of 30. Custom orders are perfect for office events, weddings, teams, clubs, organizations, special events, and more. Labels can also be customized to your liking, but will bear the Dude Candle brand name and logo in some form for branding and marketing.

Be aware that if you need a custom scent (not just a custom label on an existing scent), some are easily created. However, some scents may too difficult or time consuming to produce, get approved, and manufactured. In those cases, a custom order may not be possible or practical - for either of us.

So, send me as many details as you can and we'll go from there.

• Coupon codes cannot be stacked. That means if you have two codes, you cannot use them both. The only exception is that FREESHIP will stack with other codes. FREESHIP offers free USPS Ground Advantage Shipping for retail orders with a subtotal of $100 or more.

• Coupons are valid for retail customers only and are not valid for wholesale accounts.

• During sale events, most codes will be deactivated to prevent confusion of double stacking discounts. Codes will be reactivated after the sale event.

The short answer is - likely not. I've struggled with this for some time, so I think it's best to post my official policy. The growing reach of the brand and its product line has brought an influx of requests with over a dozen requests weekly. The costs, both financial and in time, are not practical for Dude Candle at this time.

Now, admittedly, I have some things in life I'm passionate about. Things that matter to me. And in those cases, I make an exception. You can certainly submit a request via the contact form, but please understand the likely outcome and why. But with that said, I do sincerely thank you for the consideration and I'm glad I somehow made it on your radar.

Free shipping is offered for retail customers in the United States on orders of $100 or more.

If your subtotal is over $100, you can select the Free Shipping option at checkout. "Free shipping" shipments are sent via USPS Ground Advantage.

If you need priority shipping, simply select a paid priority shipping method. Free shipping is not available for, nor will any code apply for Priority shipping services.

UPDATE DEC 2024: During the holiday season, I've been getting orders out FAST within 24 hours. Orders received up to midnight ship the next day.

And - I WILL be shipping on Saturday 12/21 if the order is received by noon. I cannot guarantee on time delivery due to USPS heavy shipment volume, but it will ship.

All orders ship from the Central Coast in California.

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Outside the holiday season orders typically ship within 48 hours via USPS Ground Advantage unless you've paid specifically for a Priority mail service option.

USPS Priority Mail usually delivers from coast to coast within 3-4 days.

USPS Ground Advantage usually delivers from coast to coast within 4-6 days.

All orders ship from Arroyo Grande, California which is located on the Central Coast.

During peak holiday seasons such as Christmas, there may be shipping delays, but only as a result of carrier delays. Dude Candle is not responsible for carrier delays.

Once an order ships, you will receive an email with tracking information. Please note, tracking information for orders after 5:00pm Monday through Friday or on weekends may not provide accurate details until the shipment processes through the USPS system during the next work day. Example, an order placed at 9:00pm Friday may not show accurate tracking information until Monday.

If it's significantly more than 2-3 business days since you placed your order, please check your junk mail folder, your spam folder, and for Gmail users - your promotion folder. These automated emails often get filtered before reaching your inbox and your tracking info will likely be in there. You could also search for emails coming from dudecandle.com.

The shortest answer is – it’s not – and Dude Candle does not mark up shipping costs.

Fortunately, in 2023, USPS launched their Ground Advantage shipping option with more competitive rates but with an additional day or two for delivery times.

I recognize that some companies offer free shipping and dramatically reduced shipping rates, but Dude Candle is not (despite how it may appear) a huge company with enormous profits to absorb shipping costs.

Nor do I want to charge more for my products just to sneak in the appearance of “free” shipping.

Remember- everything about Dude Candle is a “one man” show. Web design, packaging, photography, product development, candle production, shipping – it’s all just me - and I'm doing that on top of a full time job.

Occasionally, I will offer reduced specials to help lessen the costs. Please recognize the real world costs and challenges and I thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Dude Candle will allow returns on any candle that has not been damaged, burned, or altered (such as surface scraping). We will supply a return shipping label upon request. Shipping costs are not refundable.

It is upon you, the consumer, to ensure the candle is packed safely and securely to prevent damage in transit. Dude Candle will not assume responsibility for damaged returns as a result of improper packing. When your return is received, please allow up to 72 hours for your return to be processed.

WAX
Dude Candle uses a soy blend that combines both soy and paraffin wax. We do this because, quite simply, it makes the best burning and best scented candle. If we truly produce a 100% soy candle, it will be clearly labeled as such. Otherwise, we label it a soy blend. We believe in honesty. You can read more on our blog post here.

WICKS
We use various wick types depending on the wax and fragrance formulation blend, but in most instances, they are all cotton or paper core wicks. We never use lead or zinc wicks.

FRAGRANCE OILS
Each scent is a careful blend of fragrance oil to create our own unique line of candles. It’s often thought that candles use Essential Oils for fragrance and this is somewhat incorrect.

In order for fragrance to bond with the wax molecules, it must be a specialty type of oil. If we use essential oils in any of our candles, it’s typically as an accent fragrance and does not constitute the “base” or “bulk” of the fragrance’s scent.

PTHALATE FREE
All fragrance oils we use are pthalate free. This is a positive step forward in ensuring we reduce and risks to human health.

Dude Candle 8oz jars features an average burn time of about 40 hours while our 16oz amber jars can reach up to 80 hours.

Each candle is made in an amber jar with a vintage label. They arrive in a Dude Candle box and memorable tissue.

It makes for a great presentation as a gift or on a store shelf. The tissue is worth a good read when you get your hands on one!

Although we don't use these terms a lot in our descriptions, a "note" describes how a candle scent will smell when you burn it. It’s a similar to the language used to describe fine wines or whiskeys. There’s the way a whiskey smells, the way it tastes, and then the aftertaste it leave you when you’re done drinking. Describing candle fragrance uses the same technique.

Top Note

This is the first note you sense when you smell a candle. This will indicate the overall direction of the intended scent and deliver your first impression.

Middle Note

These are the more complex elements of the overall scent. Often representing the largest portion of a candle’s fragrance delivery, the complexity of the combined scents to make the “heart” of the fragrance make the middle notes the most descriptive and variant.

Base Note
This is the heavier, long lasting scent that remains after the candle has burned. It’s the final scent you’re left with that leaves you with your lasting impression.

Simple answer – it’s purely subjective. Each individual judges for themselves if a scent is strong, weak, or matches your interpretation of a scent.

The way you prepare a barbecue is completely different than the way your neighbor would prepare. The wood, the smoker, the marinate, the seasoning is different for everyone.

At Dude Candle, I try not to get too far off the mark for the most familiar scents. If we call it “Motor Oil”, that’s what it will smell like. And if I can’t nail the scent, I won’t produce it.

There is a lot of debate on this subject and studies on candle wax, as one can imagine, are not on the highest level of priorities or expenses for researchers and legislatures. The production of soy candle wax is a protected trade secret. However, the gist of it all is this… After being harvested, the soy beans go through a cleaning process, then bleached, then deodorized, then distilled. When complete, there is an additional process of hydrogenation to help solidify the oil and get it closer to a wax form.

The story goes on, but it should be clear by now that the production of soy is a highly processed system using GMO soy seed and chemical processes to render the soy wax.

The notion that you squeeze a soy seed to produce an all natural soy wax is a myth. That’s not to suggest soy is bad or worse than paraffin wax, but Dude Candle does not subscribe to the belief it’s “better” or “cleaner” or “safer”.
So why do we use it? Because the molecular design of soy wax (along with others we use) is different and may be a better option for certain fragrances we produce. Fragrance oils will bond differently with different types of wax, which is why some of our candles use 100% soy while others use a soy blend.

For more information on Soy Wax, read our article here.

All products are free of phthalates, parabens, formaldehyde and Prop 65 chemicals. In addition, we do not use lead or zinc wicks.

Mom says "no." You've had two already and it will spoil your supper.