Candles are a great way to create a cosy and intimate atmosphere in your home. Nowadays, candles come in all shapes and sizes, as does the wide variety of candle holders. But lighting a candle inside your home introduces an open flame, which can prove very dangerous and destructive, if not treated in an appropriate way.
Candle wax can also cause damage to furniture, flooring and upholstery in your home. Although the damage caused by candle wax can usually be repaired, it would still be better to avoid such damage altogether.
So, here are a few important candle do's and dont's:
- Keep lit candles within sight.
- Keep lit candles out of reach of children and pets - espesially if you have a Labrador with a waggly tail!
- Place lit candles away from draughts and wind.
- Place candles about 10cm apart, so that they don't melt one another, or cause their own draught.
- Trim the candle's wick to about 5mm, each time you use them. A long candle wick causes the candle to burn unevenly and drip wax all over. (A pair of nail clippers work very well for trimming candle wicks.)
- Extinguishing a candle by blowing the flame can spray wax everywhere, and cause the candle to smoke and drip wax. Rather use a candle snuffer to cut off the supply of oxygen to the flame - it is more effective, and a lot more elegant and painless than licking your fingers and pinching the wick.
- Snuff the flame if the candle has burnt down close to the candle holder.
- Snuff the flame if the pool of wax in a pillar candle approaches the edge of the candle.
- Never use water to extinguish a candle! The water can cause hot wax to splatter everywhere. The sudden change in temperature caused by drops of cold water can also shatter delicate glass containers.
