Black Creek CandleWorks is proud to use only the finest quality soy wax, fragrance and containers in the manufacturing of our candles so that you will have the maximum enjoyment and pleasure as you burn them. However, it is imperative that you use candles responsibly. Please follow the guidelines below to keep Black Creek Candles a natural, safe, fragrant, and beautiful part of your life. To that end, we have prepared a list of tips on how to safely enjoy and care for our candles.

General Safety

• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Keep burning candles away from children & pets.
• Do not place near flammable objects such as curtains, walls, fabrics, etc.
• Place on a heat resistant, level surface.
• Never drop wick trimmings, matches or any foreign matter that could burn into the candle container.
• Avoid burning candles in drafts. It causes the wick to burn faster and taller.
• Avoid walking with lit candles.
• Never extinguish a candle by placing the wooden lid on a burning container.

Burning Questions

Q: Now that I have my candles, all I have to light them, right?

A: Candles require very little care, but a little maintenance will make the burn cleaner and longer.

• Before burning the candle for the first time, straighten and trim the wick to ¼ inch.
• Each time you light the candle, re-trim the wick to ¼ inch. Keeping wicks trimmed to 1/4 inch at all times avoids carbon build up called “mushrooming”. If the wick is allowed to mushroom and continue to burn, smoking from the carbon on the wick may occur.
• Put the lid back on the container when not in use. This keeps dust out of the wax and holds the fragrance in until you are ready to release it in your room.

Q: How do I trim the wick?

A: You can use small, sharp scissors or candle wick cutters. Your best option is to use a candle wick cutter like the Candle Quencher.

The Candle Quencher is a wick cutter specifically designed to reach deep down inside the candle jar, extinguish the flame and pinch off the burned wick all at the same time. This prevents the broken wick from falling into the candle wax. In addition it snuffs the candle without allowing it to smoke. It's fantastic tool. Try the Candle Quencher today—you will love it!

Q: How long should I burn my container candle?

A: To maximize the enjoyment and life of Black Creek Candles, allow the candle to burn until the melt pool reaches the sides of the jar. This will allow the candle to burn evenly and prevent ‘tunneling’ around the wick and unused wax around the edge of the container.

Soy wax melts at a much cooler temperature. Therefore you should expect your candle to rapidly develop a large liquid wax pool. This feature allows for the great ‘scent throw’ of our candles.

Q: Is there a maximum time that I can burn my candles at one time?

A: After about 2 hours enough of the wax will be burned that the wick will be too long and it will start to mushroom. At this point, it is best to snuff the candle. If you wish to burn the candle longer, we recommend that you carefully snuff the wick, trim it to ¼ inch and then re-light it.

Q: Can I burn my Black Creek CandleWorks Soy Candle completely empty?

A: When burned properly and maintained correctly, your Black Creek CandleWorks Candle will be completely burned providing you with the most realistic, strongest fragrance possible with an even burn and no waste. As with all glass containers there is a risk of breakage due to heat. Regardless of the size of candle you buy there is an additional one to two ounces poured into each container. This is above and beyond the actual ounces specified for that container. This allows you to burn the entire number of ounces that you purchased while leaving a about a ½ inch "buffer" in the bottom of the jar to help prevent cracking. While our containers are high quality and heat resistant, we cannot guarantee they will not crack. If they have been dropped or had other impacts, this increases the risk of breakage. If you choose to use up the "buffer" and burn it to the “very last drop,” do so at your own risk. Serious injury or property damage may occur.

Q: I had a jar candle from another company and it produced a lot of soot. How can I keep this one from doing that?

A: There are a number of things you can do to make sure your candles are burning without producing black soot.

• Make sure you trim the wick ¼ inch long EACH time before you light the candle. Much of the soot is produced by burning the wick itself, instead of the wax. The purpose of the wick is to burn and melt a pool of wax and then pull that liquid was up the wick to be burned. You should be burning the wax, not the wick. As the wax is used up, it exposes more of the wick which needs to be trimmed so the flame stays close to the wax.
• Don’t leave the wick trimmings in the candle wax. This will later burn and cause smoking and soot productions.
• Burn your candle only 1 hour for each inch of diameter of the candle. The larger the candle, the longer you can burn it at one time.
• Burn the candle in a draft free area. Drafts cause the flame to flicker and burn incompletely.
• Make sure there is plenty of air space around the candle. If you place it in an enclosed area—like in a book case—the candle will burn up the oxygen in the enclosed space and not have enough oxygen to burn cleanly. While there shouldn’t be a draft, there does need to be good air circulation around the candle. Besides, enclosed spaces could become a fire hazard.
• When extinguishing the candle, don’t blow it out. When you blow it out, the wick remains hot enough to continue to partially burn for a few seconds. It is the continued incomplete burning of the wick that produces the plume of black smoke after the candle is out. To prevent this, we recommend using our Candle Quencher which completely extinguishes the flame and trims the wick in one quick pinch.

Q: I trimmed my wicks too short and I am having trouble keeping them lit. What should do?

A: No matter how careful we are, sometimes this can happen, especially if you use scissors or nail clippers to trim the wick. If you have cut the wick off too close to the wax bed, scoop the soft wax away from around the wick and light it. As the wax melts, tilt the candle gently so that the liquid wax moves away from the wick toward the edge of the jar. Sometimes this will be enough, because the soy wax will cool and stay there until the wick is more exposed. Other times, you may need to carefully soak up some of the liquid soy wax using a paper towel like a sponge. Be sure you extinguish the flame prior to putting anything—including your hand—inside the container. It may take several attempts to remove enough wax to expose the wick. Keep in mind that you must be precise when trimming the wicks. 1/4" inch is the ideal length: any shorter and you will run the risk of your wicks not burning properly.

You can prevent this problem by using a Candle Quencher which snuffs out the flame and trims the wick at the same time. See our Accessories area.

Q: I have noticed that Black Creek CandleWorks Soy Candles have two wicks. Do I need to light both of them at the same time? Will my candle be used up quicker if I do?

A: Black Creek CandleWorks uses two wicks in the wide mouth containers to assure that there is an even burn to your candle every time. It is very important that you light all of the wicks each time you burn your candle. The larger the diameter of wax, the more wicks are necessary to create the liquid "pool" in your container. This will not cause your candle to burn any faster; only more evenly. The burn times listed are approximated burn times based on both wicks being lit at the same time.

Q: How do you come up with the burn times and what are they for each size candle?

A: Most candle companies give you the maximum time their candles will burn in a "ideal setting". The candles are tested in a "test box". The test box creates a perfect environment for the candles to burn in. It protects the candle from drafts, allows just the right amount of oxygen in, and often the candle is refrigerated to give it the maximum burn time. Obviously, this testing process is very unrealistic unless you plan to burn your candles in the refrigerator.

Our burn times are based on test burning in a "normal living environment". All of our candles are burned in the living room, the kitchen, and the bedroom. They are burned for about 1 to 2 hours at a time and the wicks are always trimmed before each burning. In these conditions, the normal burn times are:

5oz. container burns 25-30 hours
10oz. container burns 40-50 hours
16oz. container burns 70-75 hours
26oz. container burns 110-120 hours

Q: Are our soy candles really ‘all natural’?

A: Soy wax candles are made from soy beans. Our wicks are heavy metal free (no lead or zinc) cotton, not paper. When you add fragrance and color, you are adding substances which may or may not be ‘natural’. By keeping our candles in the pastel range of colors, we add only enough color to make them beautiful, but not deeply dyed. Most fragrances are manufactured in a petroleum based oil. Unlike most soy candles, our "Intelliscents" were developed specifically for use in the Seven Step Pouring Process and are manufactured in natural soy bean oil.

Q: Are your soy candles really soot free?

A: Unlike some soy candle companies, we don’t claim soy candles are completely soot free because this is misleading. Any time your have a flame and combustion, there is some soot production. Soot, which is also called lampblack or carbon black, is the dark powdery carbon residue produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-rich organic fuels without enough oxygen. This is the same stuff that lines chimneys, car mufflers and any surface exposed to smoke. The only way to burn organic fuel and be conpletely soot free is for the flame to burn completely blue, like a propane torch…not exactly what you want on the dining room table!

Soy candles do not produce that thick black soot that covers the sides of paraffin jar candles and gets all over the house. However, it can produce a small amount of ‘white soot” and a little black soot, depending on how it is burned.

Q: Black Creek CandleWorks Soy Candles smell so realistic and good from beginning to end. I have bought candles from others in the past that seem to run out of scent before the candle is gone. Why is that? Are your candles “triple scented”?

A: Our candles have the best scent throw available on the market. Every type of wax has a predetermined amount of scent the wax can hold called the “scent load capacity.” If you add more than it can hold it will literally seep out. If the scent has not properly absorbed and evenly distributed throughout the wax, it will slowly migrate to the top of the jar and evaporate. This will give you a good scent throw for the top half of the candle, but after that, the fragrance is all gone.

Most candle manufacturers use only the standard scent load capacity creating average scented candles or they try to push the limit creating candles with scent that evaporates out long before the candle is completely burned. Our candles exceed the industry’s standard scent load capacity by 30%. How? The fragrances developed specifically for our Unique Soy Wax Formulation is in a carrier of soy bean base instead of petroleum oil base. The Intelliscent Fragrances are healthy and when combined with the Seven Step Pouring Process, our candles have fragrance that is equally distributed and last throughout the candle burning time.

Q: Why do most candles burn down the center, leaving wax all the way around the jar?

A: Many candles have a hole down the center because they are using the wrong type and size wick. The proper size and type wick will be able to create a pool of melted wax that extends all the way out to edge of the container. That means no wasted wax around the edges and a beautiful even burn all the way to the very bottom.

Q: I have noticed that some of my Black Creek CandleWorks Candles sometimes fade if placed in direct sunlight. Why is that?

A: Black Creek CandleWorks number one goal is to provide you with the very best candle on the market today. A realistic scent is high on every customer’s "wish list." If you purchase a Honeysuckle candle you want to smell the honeysuckle that draws so many hummingbirds to your yard. If you purchase a Hot Apple Strudel candle, you want it to smell as if you just pulled one out of the oven.

There are ultraviolet inhibitors on the market that help slow down the fading process. Our candles do not contain these additives because they would have an effect on the fragrance. Black Creek Candles are not deeply colored for the same reason. The more dye you add to darken the color, the more impurities you are adding that can affect the fragrance.

You can prevent the fading by placing your candles away from any area where direct sunlight. We recommend that you keep candles in a cool and dry place when not in use. Most fading occurs when candles are exposed to direct sunlight. Fading has no affect on fragrance and will remain true to their name regardless of color.