Candle Care
The first burn is the deepest.
Baby, we know, our wicks are hand-trimmed to the proper height but in the off chance that we missed one, ensure your wick is 1/8"-1/4" tall. If your wick is leaning to the side, center it straight up, after all, we don’t want a leaning flame to create tunneling or even worse, shatter or crack the glass! Once you have the wick in proper form, light’er up! Keep the candle burning until you have a full pool of melted wax on all edges before snuffing the flame. This process could take 1-4 hours and keeps your candle burning evenly after each lighting session. If you happen to snuff out the flame before the melt pool forms on all edges you have ruined the candle. JK! There is a fix for that that I will mention here shortly.
How long will it take for the wax in my vessel to pool?
It is said that one inch in diameter is equal to one hour. So if you have a candle that is 1.5" in diameter, it will take 1.5 hours to form a full melt pool! Which is approximately the same amount of time it takes for a steamy hot bath to turn lukewarm.
Trim your wick after each burn.
You can use a wick trimmer or do as we do and use your fingertips to grab the soot off the tip of your wick. We prefer this method because there is a low risk of accidentally trimming the wick too short. A word to the wise, use a tiny piece of toilet paper to shield your fingertips from the soot.
Did you trim your wick too short?
Next time you burn your candle try burning it longer than usual to form that full melt pool. If the flame is too weak to stay lit, try melting or digging up some wax around the wick. Once you have removed enough wax to maintain a small flame, allow the candle to burn long enough to pool. Once you have a small pool, snuff the flame and drain the wax in the trashcan or blot it out with a paper towel, then once the wax has cooled, relight the candle and allow it to form that total wax pool before ending the burn session.
Tunneled your candle?
Try wrapping tin foil around your vessel while it burns, leaving an opening for the flame to continue breathing. Basically, we’re making a concave tin foil sweater for our dear waxy friend. The foil will reflect heat down to the candle which will help any wax stuck on the edges of your glass to melt down. It will also protect your candle from unwanted alien mind readings. A WIN-WIN situation!
How to clean your vessel:
Disclaimer: We want to be as careful as possible to preserve our vintage glassware and home. Never dump any wax down the drain as this will clog your pipes and do not overheat your vessel, it will shatter! Thankfully, our coconut soy wax is easy to clean.
Here are three methods we at The House of Obsidian like to use:
1. Freeze
After a few hours in the freezer (or if you live in the Arctic, a few hours outside) the wax will shrink and separate from the glass making it easy to pop out with a scratch-resistant utensil such as silicon.
2. Double Broiler
Like we said earlier, be careful with this method and the potential to overheat the vessel, It will crack or shatter!Place your vintage vessel in an empty pot that is small enough to fit inside a larger pot filled with water and bring it to a low boil. Once the wax begins to melt around the edges, you can use a scratch-resistant utensil to remove it. Immediately remove the vessel from heat using an oven mitt. If this is the method for you, we recommend keeping an eye on the entire process so you don’t accidentally overheat the glass (yes we are a broken record)! You can also submerge your vessel in room temperature water, then bring it to a low boil. The wax will melt and float to the top. Once this happens immediately remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool. The wax will resolidify making it easy to fish out and throw away in the trashcan. However, this method is not recommended for vessels sensitive to water.
3. Oven
Preheat your oven to 150F-200F and place your vessel upside down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then put your dearly beloved glassware in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the wax softens. Similar to the double broiler method, we recommend staying near and checking the oven every 3-5 minutes to ensure the safety of your glassware. You’ll know the wax has been melted once you see a dark pool around the rim of your vessel. If the upside down method makes you nervous, you can place the vessel upright and watch until the wax begins to soften. Once it does you can remove the tray from the oven (with oven mitts please don’t burn those phalanges) and pop off the remainder of the wax with a scratch-resistant utensil or paper towel.
