Friday, October 31, 2008

Burning Candles

I love burning candles, they are a wonderful way to make your house feel warm and snuggly and since I keep my theromstat at 66 degrees, they make the house feel a little warmer. Yes I know there isn't enough heat coming off them to actually warm up the house but just seeing them burning there makes me feel warmer.
I always try to get my candles when they're on sale usually right after Christmas. I want these candles to last as long as possible and still be able to burn them whenever I want. Here are some wonderful tips on how to make candles burn longer so you can enjoy them year-round.




One of the most often used tricks is to keep your candles in the refrigerator or freezer. Keeping them cold helps the wax burn slow and even. You will get many debates on which works better just chilling in the fridge or putting it in the freezer. I suggest trying it both ways and pick the one that works for you. (I use the freezer because I have more room in there and keeping your freezer full helps save money too)




Another tip is to trim your wick to about a quarter of an inch. The shorter wick will help the candle burn evenly and keep it from smoking and leaving a black film on your candleholder or ceiling and wall. You'll want to do this every time you burn the candle.




A friend has some very fancy pillar candles there are pictures on the outside that shine when you light the candle. She has extended the life of these candles by burning them down and then placing votive candles inside after she is one of candles of course. This allows her to enjoy her candles longer.


You also want to make sure that when you're lighting your candles you can burn them for at least four hours at a time the longer burning time allows the candle to burn evenly this is of course with your piller candles and not taper candles which the wax just drips down the side when you burn them.


Another tip I have heard is to light the candle and then when you get a pool of wax blowout the candle and mix table salt into the wax around the wicks. This is supposed to reduce the rate at which the candle burns I've not tried this trick myself if you have please let me know how works for you.




Now if you're like me and like having lots of candles burning at the same time this tip will help your matches last longer. I suppose you've heard the superstition that if you lite three cigarettes from the same match it's bad luck. One of the theories behind the superstition is that during World War I if three soldiers with their threats from the same match the third one would be killed. The belief is that the first person lits his cigarette and the enemy sees it. When you light the second cigarette with the same match the enemy takes aim and when the third soldier lits his cigarette with the same match the enemy would fire.



I don't know about the superstition but I can lite up to 10 candles on the same match and I'm going share my trick with you. Gather your candles around so that you have them close together. Like the first two or three candles and then blow out the match. When the first candle gets a small pool of wax around the base dip the burnt match into the wax, then relight it from the candle. Light a couple more candles than blowout the match. Then once again dip it in the liquid wax and then relight it. Continue this until you can no longer reuse the match or until all your candles are lit. This will allow you to use fewer matches which will save you a little money and ever little bit helps.

3 comments:

Daisy said...

There's the ceremonial solution, too. Light one candle, then take the others out of the holder and hold their wicks in the first flame. This is a technique used in religious ceremonies and other multiple-candle ceremonies.

Unknown said...

Yes daisy that will save on matches but I think it makes the candle your using to light the others with burn faster.

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?

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