Candle care

1. Trim to 5 mm before every burn. A short wick burns clean and steady.

2. First burn to the edge: about 2½ hours for 220 g, 3½ for 400 g. Never more than 4.

3. Stop at 1 cm of wax. Below that the base of the vessel gets too hot.

A candle is an open flame in a stoneware pot, and it asks for a little care in return for about 50–100 hours of light. Everything below applies to every Lanthorn candle. The numbers are the ones we test to in the workshop.

Before you light it

1. Read the label. It gives the scent, the fragrance allergens the candle contains and its safety information.
2. Take off any packaging, card or wrapping from around the vessel.
3. Trim the wick to about 5 mm (¼ in). A new wick is sometimes left longer so it’s easy to light.
4. Choose where it will stand: a level, heat-resistant surface, out of draughts, and out of reach of children and pets. There is more on this under Where to burn it, below.
5. Make sure you have time. The first burn needs a few hours at home.

The first burn

The first burn sets the pattern for every burn after it. Wax tends to melt only as far as it melted the time before, so if the first burn stops short of the edge, the candle will burn down a narrow tunnel for the rest of its life.

Let the melt pool reach the edge of the vessel all the way round before you put it out. That takes:

• about 2½ hours for a 220 g candle
• about 3½ hours for a 400 g candle
• about 3 hours for the 900 g three-wick candle
• at least 2 hours for a 60 g votive

Even on the first burn, don’t burn for longer than 4 hours. The first burn, and why candles tunnel explains the reasons in more detail.

Every burn after

1. Make sure the wax has set completely since the last burn.
2. Trim the wick to about 5 mm (¼ in) with the candle cold. Drop the trimming in the bin, and lift out any match ends or debris from the wax.
3. Check that the wick is upright and in the centre.
4. Light it close to the base of the wick. On a three-wick candle, light all three.
5. Let the pool reach the edge, usually two to three hours, and burn for no longer than 4 hours at a time.

Don’t move a candle while it is lit or while the wax is liquid. Candles that are only ever lit for half an hour at a time slowly tunnel, so give yours a long burn now and then.

Where to burn it

• On a level, heat-resistant surface. Stoneware gets hot, especially towards the end of a candle, so don’t stand it straight on polished wood, plastic or fabric.
• At least 10 cm (4 in) from any other candle.
• Away from draughts: open windows and doors, fans, vents and radiators. A draught makes a flame smoke and a pool burn unevenly.
• Away from anything that can catch fire: curtains, bedding, towels, books, papers, lampshades and shelves above the flame.
• Out of reach of children and pets.
• In a room where you are. Never leave a burning candle unattended, and never fall asleep with one lit.

Putting it out

1. Lower a snuffer over the flame without touching the wax, hold it for two or three seconds, and lift it straight up. If you don’t have one, blow gently, but expect a curl of smoke.
2. Never use water. It makes hot wax spit, and it can crack the vessel.
3. While the wax is still liquid, nudge the wick upright and back to the centre if it has drifted.
4. Make sure the wick has stopped glowing before you leave the room.
5. Leave the candle where it is until the wax has set hard.

When to stop

Stop burning when about 1 cm (½ in) of wax remains in the bottom of the vessel. Below that, the flame is close to the base, the stoneware gets much hotter and it can crack or scorch the surface underneath. Our burn times (about 50 hours for 220 g, 80 hours for 400 g and 100 hours for the 900 g three-wick) already allow for that last centimetre.

Reusing the vessel

The vessels are slip-cast stoneware from Stoke-on-Trent, fired to 1,240 °C and glazed inside, so they are made to outlast the candle. Once you have stopped burning, there are two ways to get the last of the wax out. Either way, the wax goes in the bin, never down the sink, where it sets and blocks the drain.

The freezer method

1. Let the candle cool completely to room temperature.
2. Put the vessel in the freezer for a few hours, or overnight.
3. The cold wax shrinks away from the glaze. Work a butter knife around the edge and lift the wax out in one piece. The wick and its small metal base usually come with it.
4. Let the vessel come back to room temperature before you wash it. Stoneware doesn’t like sudden changes of temperature.

The hot-water method

1. Stand the vessel on a folded tea towel on a heat-resistant surface.
2. Fill it almost to the top with hot water from a kettle, just off the boil.
3. The wax melts and floats to the top. Leave it until the water is cool.
4. Lift off the disc of set wax and put it in the bin, then pour the water away.
5. Prise off the wick base with a butter knife if it is still stuck to the bottom.

Washing it

Wipe off any soot on the rim with a dry cloth first, then wash the vessel by hand in warm, soapy water. A little leftover wax film comes off with a paper towel and very hot water. We don’t recommend using an old candle vessel for food or drink.

Ideas for reuse

• Pens and pencils on a desk, or make-up brushes in a bathroom.
• A pot for long matches beside the candle you’re burning now.
• A cover for a small plant still in its nursery pot. The vessel has no drainage hole, so water carefully.
• A dish for keys, coins or rings (the 900 g vessel is 14.8 cm across).
• A new candle. The Lamplighter Refill drops into any emptied 400 g vessel.

When something goes wrong

Tunnelling

The candle burns down a narrow hole in the middle and leaves a wall of wax around the edge. It usually comes from a short first burn, or from many short burns.

1. Trim the wick to 5 mm (¼ in) and light the candle.
2. Wrap kitchen foil around the top of the vessel so it leans in over the wall of wax, leaving an opening in the middle about half the width of the vessel.
3. Stay with it and check every 20 minutes. The foil reflects heat onto the wall and melts it back into the pool, usually within an hour or two.
4. Remove the foil with an oven glove once the surface is level, and keep to 4 hours in total.

Don’t use a hairdryer, a heat gun or an oven.

Soot and a tall flame

A tall, flickering flame, a thread of black smoke or a dark ring on the glaze almost always means the wick is too long, has mushroomed (a knob of carbon on the tip) or is in a draught.

1. Put the candle out and let it cool completely.
2. Trim the wick to 5 mm (¼ in), removing any carbon.
3. Wipe the rim with a soft, dry cloth.
4. Move the candle out of the moving air before you light it again.

If it still smokes with a trimmed wick in still air, tell us. That is a fault.

A drowning or weak flame

A small flame that shrinks and gutters, or goes out in the pool, means the wick is too short or has sunk into liquid wax.

1. Put the candle out.
2. While the wax is liquid, carefully blot a little away from around the wick with a folded paper towel. It will be hot.
3. Straighten the wick and let the wax set.
4. Relight it. If the wick is already shorter than 5 mm, don’t cut it any further.

If the flame stays weak over two or three burns, the candle may be faulty, and we will replace it.

Frosting on the wax

A white, crystalline bloom on the surface or down the sides of the wax is called frosting. It happens naturally to rapeseed wax and beeswax as they crystallise, especially after a change of temperature. It is cosmetic. It doesn’t affect how the candle burns or how it smells, and it often disappears into the melt pool on the next burn and returns as the wax sets.

A wick that has drifted

A wick that leans to one side heats that wall more than the others, which leads to soot on one side and tunnelling on the other.

1. Put the candle out with a snuffer.
2. While the wax is liquid, nudge the wick upright and back to the centre with the closed jaw of a wick trimmer, a wooden skewer or an unlit match. Push sideways only.
3. Check it again after a minute or two, and leave the candle still until the wax has set.

Safety and allergens

Every candle label and product page lists the fragrance allergens that candle contains, for example: “Contains Eugenol, Coumarin. May produce an allergic reaction.” Some candles also carry the statement “Harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects”, together with the environmental hazard pictogram where the fragrance’s classification calls for it. The label shows exactly what applies to that candle.

The precautions printed on our labels, in plain words:

• Keep out of reach of children.
• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Keep it away from anything that can catch fire.
• Dispose of the contents and the container in line with your local regulations.
• Don’t burn a candle if you have a known sensitivity to any of the allergens it lists.

If hot wax gets on your skin, cool it under cold running water for 20 minutes and seek medical advice for anything more than a minor burn. A Safety Data Sheet for any of our candles is available on request from support@lanthorn.shop.