Some of my murmur candles currently come in durable glass mason jars with a lid which we have covered with jute twine. When opened the lid turns into a candle tray. It will help to prevent the candle from heating up the surface it stands on.
But, no matter if the candle is or isn't in the jar there are some handy tips on the topic of candle care, which I will try to lay out here.
THE FIRST TIME
When you light your candle for the very first time, allow the wax pool to melt all the way to the edge of the jar. The next time you burn your candle it will melt as far as it did the first time.
TO EXTINGUISH YOUR CANDLE
Option 1:
The easy and smoke free way to extinguish the candles is to use a wick dipper and gently push the wick into the wax pool until the candle is extinguished, and then pull the wick straight up.
Avoid handling the wick after it is cooled as it may break.
After that, cover the candle with the lid aka tray.
Turns out a bobby pin or tweezers are a great tool for wick dipping. ;)
Option 2:
Although, it might be tempting to use the lid as a candle snuffer to extinguish the candle flame, we do not recommend it, because it will cause smoke that will create soot (dark residue), which will accumulate on the lid. It also might saturate the melted wax which could cause the candle to have odd smell at the beginning of the next burn. The smell will disappear but might not be pleasant at first.
I would not recommend this option, but if you choose to extinguish the candle with placing a lid on it – be extremely careful! The melting beeswax will heat up the glass jar, which will get very hot and can potentially become a hazard. It needs to be tested to the touch before lifting the candle from the tray (aka lid). And only then the lid/tray can be placed on the jar and screwed on.
If you have extinguished your candle like this for several times the lid/tray will start to acquire dark soot on it.
It is easy to clean, though – use a dry cloth or paper towel to wipe it off. Make sure no moisture touches it, because the cleaning will tur difficult at that point.
Option 3:
A candle snuffer is an other tool that can be used to extinguish burning candles. The use of a snuffer helps to avoid problems associated with blowing hot wax and it avoids the smoke and odor of a smoldering wick.
If you are a big candle lover, most likely you already have one of these at home.
THE WICK
Make a habit of trimming the candle wick to one quarter inch before each burn to keep it burning beautifully.
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