Before you light a candle, you should always trim the wick to around 5mm long. You can use a wick trimmer, scissors, but remember to do it every time you burn your candle. Properly trimmed wicks burn brighter and cleaner (aka less smoke) and won’t leave black soot stains on the inside of the vessel.
Let the wax melt almost completely
Now that your candle is burning, don’t put it out until the wax has melted and pooled to the edges of the vessel. In other words, most of the top layer of the candle should be liquid wax. This might take 3-4 hours, depending on your candle, so don’t light it if you’re planning on leaving the house. Letting the top pool helps keep the wax from tunneling and melting unevenly.
Do not let the candle burn too long
On the other hand, you don’t want to burn a candle for longer than four to six hours. Burning a candle for too long can cause the candle to get too hot and for safety reasons it is better to not let that happen.
Do not blow it out
When you blow out a candle, it sends black ash particles flying into the melted wax. Instead, use a candle snuffer or replace the cover of the candle on top to gently extinguish the flame.
Choose the right spot
Place your candle on a level, non-flammable surface that’s away from curtains or any other type of fabric. You should also keep your candle away from moving air caused by fans, open windows, or people walking back and forth frequently—this helps the candle burn evenly.
Never burn your candle till the very end, leave 1 cm of wax
Never burn your candle when it has one centimeter of wax left. Lighting your candle without sufficient wax can cause the glass to overheat and burst.
Are OSCAR candles refillable?
The good news is that we have our own candle factory. So we can refill your empty candles… You can bring your empty candle (remember to always leave 1 cm of wax in the pot for safety reasons) to our Knokke store and we will refill it in our factory. The concrete candles all have the same shape so you can buy these online.
My candle causes black smoke?
Black smoke can have many potential reasons:
The wicks are too long.
We recommend that you cut your wicks down to no longer than 0.6 cm, even if the candle is still burning.
The candle has been burning for too long.
Once the wax is entirely liquid, we recommend that you blow out your candle no later than an hour after this has occurred. Once the surface is liquid, the inner wax of the candle heats up and begins to evaporate very quickly. The candle is then unstable, causing the flame to burn irregularly. The more the flame moves, the more likely it is to give off soot.
The candle is exposed to winds.
This causes the flame to move and give off soot. In this case, either turn the candle or move it to a less exposed area.
The interior of the glass has never been cleaned.
In this case, the accumulated soot from previous burnings falls into the wax and heats up. This blend of soot and wax creates black smoke. It is therefore recommended that you regularly clean your candle with a rag and alcohol-free cleaner (never use an alcohol-based product to clean your candle.)
The candle does not have enough room.
All candles give off a bit of soot. An xxl glass candle with 7 wicks is rather high. It therefore requires a considerable ceiling height for the smoke to disperse. Candles of this size are recommended for large spaces.
The natural wick is an above average thickness.
Each wick has an average thickness, but it is a natural product that can vary. Sometimes the wick can be a bit on the heavy side. In that case please send us pictures of the candle burning so we can advise you what to do.
What are the safety instructions?
Our candles are made using only the finest quality ingredients and materials. However, it’s very important that you burn candles responsibly to ensure their safe use. Please follow these guidelines to keep your candles a bright and beautiful part of your life.
Remove all packaging before lighting.
Place on a protected, heat-resistant, dry surface, away from anything that can catch fire, and out of reach of children and pets. Use holders designed for the particular candle style.
Keep wick(s) trimmed to the length stated on your candle’s top label.
If smoking occurs, check for drafts or high traffic areas, which may cause flame to flicker and smoke. Also, be sure that the wick is trimmed to the length stated on your candle’s top label. If it is longer, then extinguish, trim the wick, and relight.
Keep the wax pool free of wick trimmings, matches, or any combustible material. Keep the wick centered.
Avoid burning candles in drafts.
Never leave burning candles unattended. Keep them within sight at all times.
Keep all matches and lighters out of the reach of children.
Teach everyone in the family the rules of safe candle use.
How long do the candles last?
OSCAR candles are known for their long burn time due to the wooden wicks that burn very evenly.
The burning time depends on the size of your candles plus the number and thickness of the wicks. The more wicks, the more flame, the faster the candle will burn. When making our candles, we always have to make a choice between a large and lively flame and the number of burning hours.
The concrete candles small to 40 hours medium to 80 hours large up to 120 hours extra large up to 150 hours
The mouthblown glass candles medium to 80 hours large up to 140 hours extra large up to 220 hours XXL up to 300 hours
le use.
My candle does not burn like I thought it would?
We carry out thorough and systematic quality control checks to guarantee the quality of all of our products. Despite these precautions, should one of our products not bring you full satisfaction, please send us the following information via our contact form in order for us to provide an appropriate answer to your request: – your order number, – your candle, – pictures of your product
Each product is handmade and sometimes the thickness of the wooden wicks can be different from the average wick. Because of this, the flame can be more or less intense. If the flame is too intense, this may be because the wick is too long, in which case break off a piece of the wick. If the candle has just been lit, the flame is always a little heavier, so it is best to wait a while to see if everything settles down. It is absolutely normal when the flame burns only lightly, we do this to prevent your candle from burning out too quickly.