Candle Care
Soy Candles are a much softer wax, meaning they burn at a lower temperature and are a fantastic way to enjoy a fragranced home, office or space. We have come up with some tips on how to enjoy and take care of your candle and also how you can prepare for refilling or re purposing your candle jar or vessel.
The First Burn
It is said and true that the first burn is pretty important when considering the longevity of your candle. The first time you burn your Ruby Lights candle, please let that puppy burn long enough (at least 1 hour) so that the wax melts the whole way across the jar/vessel. This ensures an even burn the whole way down your candle, and that your candle works at its full potential in regards to scent throw, burn times and generally a great looking candle!
Take her out
To put out your candle you can either blow it out, snuff or dip the wick into the wax pool. Dipping the wick is the most effective and my choice - as it eliminates the smoke straight away! You can purchase 'wick dippers' relatively cheap, but anything that is not flammable will do the job.
The Relight
Trim your wick! Does your wick have a mushroom looking formation on the end? Nothing to worry about! Just a carbon ball which you just trim off yourself with scissors (or it easily picks off too!). Keep your wick trimmed to 5-7mm for a perfect burn every time. The wicks we use at Ruby Lights are generally pretty good at self trimming, how ever sometimes after a long burn time, your wick might be long when you go to relight it!
Smoking candles
If your candle is smoking black to the high heavens, firstly - put it out! Then check - is my candle in a draft? If yes, move it. And secondly- Did I trim the wick before lighting?
If you are like any other candle lover I know of you will be burning your candle as long as you possibly can, so once you get to the 4 hours max, you will have a long wick left , so really remember to Trim Yo Wick!
Soy Spills
If you have spilt your precious candle - don't panic! Grab a paper towel, let it soak up spilt wax, and any remaining bits you can clean out with hot soapy water, (HOT/COLD depending on what fabric it's on!), and dab it - no scrubbing! Let it dry, repeat if necessary. One of the joys of soy is that it is a vegetable wax and soft in comparison to other candle waxes, an easy cleaner upper!
If that spill is a monster - place paper towel ( a few sheets!) over the spill, and use your hot iron to go over the paper towel. In many cases, the hot iron melts the wax and the wax is lifted up and absorbed by the paper towel. Change the paper towels once they start getting too full otherwise you are going to smear it back in the carpet/fabric.
Cleaning your jar
Place your empty jar on a tea towel/ paper towel. Fill the jar with BOILING HOT WATER from the kettle. This will immediately melt the wax and it will start dripping up to the surface of the water. Let it cool and the wax harden. Once the wax is hardened - push the wax out and dispose. Empty the water. If need be, repeat the boiling process. Most times once is enough. Then clean out your jar with warm soapy water.
DO NOT POUR YOUR MELTED WAX DOWN THE DRAIN! It WILL block it! If you have dropped some in by accident - blast the drain with HOT HOT water for a few minutes and this should ( fingers crossed) clear it out.
You can also begin to clean out you finished candle by placing the jar in the freezer for over an hour. This will contract the wax so that when you take it out of the freezer, use a spoon or blunt object to carefully push the solid wax out. If there is a wick in tact you should be able to remove that easily too, and then continue to clean with hot soapy water.
Your candle is now ready for refilling or re purposing!
Concrete Cleaning
If you are wanting to get your concrete vessel cleaned up for a refill or re-purposed as a planter, you cannot clean your concrete the same way you would a glass jar.
Burn your candle right til the end, and scrape out as much of the leftover wax as possible with something sturdy but that will not scratch. ie; spoons or blunt knife. From here you can either leave it to me to clean out the rest ( or all if you feel you can't do it!) and carefully clean the inside with warm NOT HOT!! soapy water. Let it air dry or carefully dry with a tea towel.