3 Things To Look For In A Cleaner Candle

There are so many candles on the market these days! From small businesses (like Cayman & Company) to larger brands that mass produce their candles, there are cleaner burning options available for you. Most importantly, you're burning this in your home!

Here are 3 things to look for when you're looking to buy a cleaner candle:

1. Wick

Believe it or not, some candles still have metal core wicks or metal woven into the wick, meaning they may contain lead or other metals. It's important to find cotton wick or wood wick candles. Even if the wick material is cleaner, pay attention to how your candle burns. If the vessel gets so hot you can't even touch it, the wick might be wrong for the candle size and could release soot. 

2. Wax

Most candles are made with paraffin wax, which is a petroleum byproduct. It was found in 2009, paraffin wax candles without scent or dye released harmful chemicals like toluene into the air. On the other hand, candles made with vegetable-based wax, such as soy, did not.

The other problem with paraffin wax candles is the fact they release soot, which contains chemicals similar to those found in diesel exhaust. Yikes! Vegetable-based and natural waxes such as palm wax, coconut wax, beeswax, and soy wax are better choices because they don't product soot as long as you are trimming your wick to 1/4" every time before you burn your candle.

3. Fragrance oils

Now we all live in the real world and when reality strikes, I don't expect you to be reading the online disclaimers of every candle you buy. However, in the event you do, look for candles promoting things like 100% naturally derived essential oils, phthalate-free, or show the "fragrance" to be natural and non-toxic.

If you have questions, reach out and let's talk about it. There's nothing worse then buying something and learning after the fact it isn't as transparent as we would've hoped.

And of course, you can shop all these quality materials in our candles at Cayman & Company.