We have been making and selling soy candles for a very long time.  We know our stuff when it comes to candles – but have always been passionate about teaching our customers how to treat their candles right to get the most out of them.

Soy Candles are such an amazing type of candle to burn – they burn very cleanly with very little soot.  However, all candles need some loving care.  If you have bought one of our candles before, all our candle care tips are either on the back of our boxes OR  in the case of our plain boxing, we provide a candle care card.

Lets talk about how to get the most our of your soy candle.

Never Power Burn your Soy Candle!

The hours you burn your candle is both for safety and for getting more out of your candle.  We go through extensive testing on our candles for the perfect burn time.  All our candles should be burned for up to 4 hours only.  If you want more – blow the candle out, let it cool, trim the wick – then light again.

Why you ask?  Safety first – our soy candles are made in glassware.  All our glassware is specifically made for candles, however no glassware should be heated up for 8 hours.  It is simply dangerous.  Secondly – if you power burn your soy candle (for hours greater than 4 hours), you will burn through your candle much quicker.  All our quoted hours on our Soy Candles are based on burning for 4 hour intervals.

A good melt pool = a strong smell

That intoxicating smell you get from a soy candle is from the melting of the wax.  When you get a melt pool to around the 1cm mark – that is when you are going to get your strongest scent.  This should usually take about 2-3 hours. 

Trim Your Wick!

When you purchase your soy candle from Swik, the wick is at the perfect height.  After your first burn, when you light your soy candle again – you must trim the wick off.  This can be done with some fancy pants wick trimmers (which we sell in some gorgeous styles) or by simpy grabbing a tissue and breaking off the top (when it is cool of course).

Why you ask (again)?  A long wick will produce a hotter flame.  This will burn through your candle quicker.  The wick will also then break off itself into your candle, so you will end up with black bits of wick in your beautiful white candle – no one wants that mess!  A longer wick will also produce more soot and create a black rim around the top of your candle.

Never burn to the very bottom

This is purely a safety thing, and probably the most important thing you can do (or not do) with your soy candle.  Always leave 1cm of wax in the bottom of your candle.  Never ever burn to the bottom with no wax left in your soy candle.  All this will create is a flame directly on glass.  As we say, all our soy candles are in specific candle glassware – but no glassware can ever withstand a flame directly on it. 

Important Safety Instructions

Along with all the other safety messages above, it is also really important to never leave your soy candle unattended.  You wouldn’t leave your house with the gas stove going, or a fire going – so it is just as important to never leave a candle burning as well.

Keep in mind where you put your candle – never put it in the way of drafts or near anything that can catch fire.  It’s also super important to keep them out of reach of children and pets.  Soy candle wax generally burns cooler than paraffin and shouldn’t burn anyone, but still best to be safe around the little ones.

Not ready to burn your soy candle immediately?

Our candles are made from Soy.  It is a much more natural product than petroleum based candles made from paraffin.  It burns cleaner, and in our opinion makes a much better candle.  However, it does need to be stored correctly if you are not going to burn it.  It needs to be stored out of damp areas – the moisture can be sucked into the candle and it can expand.  We have not seen this happen often, but can occur.

Over time, a soy candle can also take on a frosted appearance – either from heat or cold.   This will not change how your candle burns at all – and once you start to burn it that appearance will go away.  It is always best to store your candle in an even temperature – somewhere between 18-26 degrees.

We have customers who never burn their candles, just take the lids off and the fragrance goes through their space!

As usual, if you are ever unsure about anything just shoot us an email, happy to help.