Candles 101:

Because for my next blog entry, I will be posting a pretty cute centerpiece, I decided to drop a little candle knowledge on ya!

Those of you that know me know that I have worked for not one, but two of the giant candle retailers out there, both shall remain nameless and for reference sake we shall rename them the candle stores of good and evil.

The evil candle store uses mystery wax, mystery wicks, and manufactures the candles outside of the U.S. (we shall call it Flexico) and shipped them to their stores nationwide. The good candle store used locally sourced food grade paraffin and organically grown soy wax, unbleached organic cotton wicks, and poured the candles into reusable recycled glass containers. All that being said, one of the candle stores went out of business, can you guess which one? Oh how the dark things grow plentiful in the garden of evil.

So, why should you care about what goes into the candles you burn? Candle ingredients are not regulated by any government agency and some of the binding agents, dyes, scents, and even the wicks can contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals that are potentially harmful to breathe. I’m not going to say that you should run through your home tossing out your candles, but I do believe that if you’re going to buy you should buy knowledgably.

Some people reading this may be thinking “lots of things cause cancer, this just isn’t at the top of the list”, I’m not going to disagree, but I do feel that people are exposed to tons of toxic chemicals, fumes, and carcinogens in their day to day and much of that is out of our control, if there is one area where we can avoid sucking in noxious fumes, and keep our kids from doing so, why not try?

What you should look for:

• Food grade paraffin wax, organic soy wax, or beeswax
• Unbleached organic cotton wicks
• Recycled or reusable containers

1. Trim your wick! Keep your wicks trimmed to a quarter of an inch. Why? Because if it gets longer, you get a quicker burn (meaning less burn time) AND you get smoke (which can stain your walls, or ceiling with lil grey smudges like this!)
2. Light your candle when you know you have time for it! Candles burn at different rates, but the average burn is an hour per inch, meaning for every hour lit, an inch of radius around the wick will melt, the first time you burn it, you should let the candle stay lit until it melts out almost to the edge of the wax then blow it out. The first burn is the most important, if you light the candle and let it burn 30 minutes, each time you light it subsequently, it will only melt within the first burn’s indentation (which is why you see used candles with warped, mangled tops).
3. Know your type of candle! Tealight, Pillar, Jar, & Votive (have a lower melting point and therefor must be put into a glass or metal votive holder lest you have candle puddles on your table!), to name a few.

Thanks for all the well wishes and support! I must admit, I have the most AMAZING friends on the planet! Before tackling the world of blogging, I wanted to just take a quick moment and thank you guys for all the love sharing! Any sharing of ONECHATTYBIRD is much appreciated! I can’t WAIT to get started!