Well Lit Candles 101
At Well Lit Candles, we want to give our customers the most enjoyable candle experience, one that will keep them coming back to our store time and time again. Below you will see our materials of choice for your awareness:
Soy Wax:
Soy is becoming quite the ingredient of choice when it comes to candles. Traditionally, candles have been made with paraffin, but this form of wax has proven to be harmful when burning the candle due the chemicals released into the air. Given our commitment to health and wellness, we only use soy wax for our products. Soy wax offers a cleaner burn and is a sustainable, renewable resource that is safer for ourselves and the environment. It also burns slower which means your candle lasts longer. After burning, soy candles will likely cool with a rough, bumpy top. Please know, this is completely normal and does not mean there is anything wrong with the candle.
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Wicks:
There are many wick options available for candles. Well Lit Candles uses pre-tabbed wicks that have been cut from a spool and pre-attached to a tab for each unique candle container. We currently use wicks from the CD series as it is one of the better options for soy waxes and gives a more even and consistent burn during our product testing. The CD series is made up of paper and cotton, woven together to produce the desired wick structure.
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Fragrance:
There's an infinite combination of fragrances and oils that can be used for candles. They are typically split into two categories: essential oils and fragrance oils. Because our customers have varying preferences, we have decided to carry our collections in both an all essential oil blend along with a fragrance oil version. These two oils will use similar ingredients but will offer different, unique experiences based on your choice.
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When deciding which oils to order, consider this:
Essential oils are the natural route for candles as these oils are derived straight from plant matter. Though they tend to give off a lighter scent, there are many aromatherapy benefits to essential oils such as lavender supporting relaxation, rose reducing anxiety, or lemon boosting your mood, just to name a few. We recommend this to candle lovers who are interested in natural products or those with more sensitive noses. Fragrance oils contain essential oils and other materials that allow them to give off a stronger scent. These oils come in many different varieties which makes them attractive to a candlemaker making a wide collection of candles. Fragrance oils are very popular and safe to use in candles. We recommend this to candle lovers who enjoy aromas that cover a large area and aren't as concerned about the aromatherapy aspects of the candle.
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Curing Time:
Curing time is a concept that is important to understand. Once the wax is poured into the container and sets, the candle is still not ready to be used, at least not for optimal results. The best analogy to help explain this is food, specifically gumbo...yum! When the gumbo is "done", sure you can eat it, and it will be tasty, but if you let it sit for a few hours (better yet, wait until the next day), the flavors really start to mix together and it's almost as if it's a completely different pot. Candles go through a similar process where all the individual ingredients are essentially working to become one. This process takes about 3-7 days. Some candles will be shipped before the curing time is complete. That is because we know you are excited about your candle, and we want you to be able to light it as soon as you possibly can. So long as the candle is set, shipping them before they are cured will not impact the quality of the candle. If your candle is shipped before it is fully cured, you will receive a card that indicates when the candle was created and the earliest suggested time to burn the candle. Please use this as guidance. If you receive no card, then your candle is ready for immediate use.
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Candle Care:
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Inspect candle for damages upon receipt
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Always trim wick to ¼" before burning
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Always burn candles in sight on heat resistant surfaces in open spaces
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Do not burn more than 4 hours at a time
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Allow candle to burn to even melt pool to prevent tunneling
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Leave candle in place once lit. If candle must be moved, exercise caution when handling as vessel will get hot
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Vessel will still be warm for a time once fire is blown out. Do allow to cool before relighting
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Discontinue use when only ¼" of wax remains
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Keep out of reach of children and pets
Lastly, each product goes through a series of testing before it is officially added to our catalog. All of our candles are hand-poured and given a thorough review before shipping to customers.