Candles—Making Them Last Longer

Buying nice candles can be a great indulgence, but if you are buying quality or luxury candles to enjoy real pampering of course you will want to make your purchase last as long as possible so that you can enjoy the fragrance and light of your buy for as long as possible. Luckily, there are a number of tips used by candle lovers and even by candle companies themselves to make candles last long.

The first basic tip is to chill candles well before using them. Cooled wax tends to burn more slowly and more evenly, which makes candles last longer. Some candle users chill their candles in the freezer before burning, while others simply cool the candles in a fridge before lighting. You may want to experiment with what works for you.

Another good, thrifty tip is to rim the wick before using the candle. Trimming the wick allows the candle to burn evenly, which can extend burning time. It can also help prevent smoking and soot, which can leave marks on candles, candle holders, and even your walls. If your candle is smoking, then the wick needs trimming.

Another popular trick is to burn your candle longer. When you burn candles for four hours at a time or more, the candle burns more evenly so that you get more burning hours out of each candle. Lighting a candle for a few hours at a time is also important if you use scented candles. A few hours of burn time at a time allows the maximum fragrance of the candle to waft through your home so that you can enjoy your candle more fully.

Some people like burning large pillar decorative candles until a well is formed at the top. Into this well they drop a small, inexpensive tea light. The fragrance and the color of the pillar candle can be enjoyed much longer this way. All you have to do is keep replacing the tiny tea lights.

You can even get some use out of every last little bit of candle. You can use used up scented candles to scent drawers and linen closets. You can also remove good quality way from unscented used up candles to use in making your own candles. To this wax, you can even add scent and twigs or petals to create your own unique candles. Ideally, your candles will burn evenly so that there is little left over, but if there is a little more wax left over from a candle that didn't burn quite right, you can certainly put it to good use.

Of course, buying higher-quality candles also makes sense. High quality candles, although more expensive, have much longer burning times than cheaply-made candles. The good quality candles are also made of higher-quality materials, so that you do not have to worry about releasing toxins into your home as much. Paying a little bit more and having your candles burn longer makes more sense economically as well. When you buy quality products, you will enjoy your candles more and save money in the long run, as well, especially if you use the above tips to make the most out of every drop of wax.

Article source: http://my-candles.blogspot.com/2007/09/candlesmaking-them-last-longer.html