Everyone enjoys a candle, right? Well, most of the time anyway. I used to go to the store, purchase what I thought was a high quality candle that had beauty and smelled great. Easy task if you asked me. I did this for years, no problems at all, that is until I learned a few things about wax candles. I began a career in the insurance business and my job entailed me to do inspections of rooms of a house. I noticed in many homes that either their curtains or walls were a little discolored and some were simply BLACK. I began to inquire and the more investigating I did, the more I found out that it was the wax candle that was the problem. I began to do a lot of investigating, when I was not on the job of course, but in a different way on a different subject, CANDLES!! That is how my journey began and I want to share it with you, so you can hopefully benefit as I have.
I noticed that when I would ask why the black smoke was on the wall, I always got the same answer; oh, that is where mom puts her candles to burn. I then wanted to see if the smoke was able to be wiped away, and to some degree, it was. I then became concerned, not only for the homeowners due to the smoke and the type of wax that was used, but mostly because I learned that the wax and smoke was also dangerous if burned too long in a closed room.
I then found another problem with wax candles, they tunnel. Yes, I said they tunnel, meaning that if you burn a candle for a short time which is less than enough time to allow it to burn completely to the edge of the glass jar, if it is in a glass jar, and you blow out the flame; that wax will never again in that particular jar melt to the edge of the jar, never. You see, just like the old phone batteries, candles also have a memory!! Due to the wax becoming cold prior to melting to the edge, the wax has something in it that simply does not allow it to EVER melt past the last melting point during its last lighting. That is a problem.
Another problem that I learned about wax candles that I did not particularly appreciate was that they became ugly. So ugly that I never would burn them to the bottom because I did not like the black smoke look inside of the jar, so, out the door they went to be recycled into something hopefully more productive.
Now, I was forever on this new mission to find a better candle, but what could it be? I mean, candles had been around for ever, or at least as long as I knew about. Well, I thought, maybe even candles can be made better, after all, other things have been improved upon that had a long history.
I finally changed and went to oil candles, that is what I have found to be the answer. You can make your own oil candle and there are certainly people who make them to sell, but the point is that whatever candle you purchase and choose to use, make sure you use caution and be responsible and burn it safely. With me being in the insurance business, I have seen many candles be the cause of a fire that could have been avoided.
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