Archive for the ‘Votive Candles’ Category
Scented Votive Candles
Scented votive candles are a wonderful way to test out different fragrances. Although smaller than pillars or jars, these small wonders can still provide an enjoyable aroma. And if you can find triple-scented candles in votive size, that's an even bigger treat!
Votives tend to come in one general shape (a round cross-section), but the sizes may vary a wee bit.
Choosing Your Candle's Wax
Votives are wonderful because they can handle any kind of candle wax easily. The wax melts and fills the votive holder, so your biggest concern is getting the right size holder.
Glass Votive Candle Holders
The ideal glass votive holder will fit the candle snugly, or perhaps with a little space around the sides. The holders shown in this photo are maybe a little large, but adequate.
What you don't want is a holder that swallows the scented votive candle. The reason? When the wax melts, it first tries to form a pool near the wick. When that overflows, it runs down the side. If there is too much room, the candle flattens, exposing more wick, causing it to burn faster, etc.
Other Holder Information
A thick ceramic is useful for the candles, but please don't use anything very thin (glass or ceramic). The reason? The glass can get very hot, and if it's stressed enough, it can shatter. So please, although they are indeed pretty, don't burn votives in champagne glasses.
Scented Votive Candles - What Kind?
If you want the most fragrance from your candles, choose triple-scented. Lacking that, choose soy votive candles or other vegetable wax. Paraffin candles really don't give you much fragrance.
As as experiment, I have some (paraffin) votives from several years ago, still wrapped up tightly to preserve the scent (they smelled great when I unwrapped them). I placed two in my office. I burned them for a short while yesterday. I walked in here this morning and there was no scent, not even from the wax itself, unless I brought it up to my nose.
On the other hand, I have a tiny sample (about 1/8 ounce) of triple-scented candle wax, and that when I open the tiny bag, fills the whole room with scent.
Votives for Decoration
If you are wanting votives for a dinner table decoration and plan to burn them, you may actually want an unscented candle. The reason? So that the scent of the candles doesn't conflict with the tastes and smells of the food.
On the other hand, if you plan to burn the votives for decoration, but not at a dinner table (at least not when eating), then richly scented votive candles may be just what you need.
If you haven't looked already, check out the burning a candle page, for tips on a longer candle life.
Enjoy using your votives!
Tags: Soy Votive Candles
Soy votive candles are popular for a few reasons. First, being votives, the candles are small enough to tuck into small spots, like bathrooms. Second, since soy is a natural candle wax, it burns cleaner than those with a paraffin base.
Third, soy is a renewable resource, and provides crops for farmers. And finally, soy candles hold more scent than almost any other candle making wax.
Know Your Soy Votive Candles
Knowing your candles may sound funny, but not all soy votives are 100% soy wax. Why? A couple of reasons.
First, soy is a very soft wax, really only suitable for container candles. And although votives can be considered container candles in that you want to burn them in a holder, not everyone does.
Since some like to treat votives like a tiny pillar, there are votives that are a little harder; that have a higher melting point. These are generally soy/paraffin/additive mixes.
There are also soy/palm wax votives, which can also be high scented. They are also natural candle wax.
There's nothing wrong with a soy mix; just make sure you know what you're getting, if you want a 100% soy candle.
Candle Burning
Who knew there was a right way and a wrong way to burn a candle? Actually, it's more along the lines of safety and also having your candle last as long as possible.
When you get your soy votive candles home, check the wicks. If they are more than 1/4" long, trim them back (actually, I trim mine even shorter than that). A shorter wick helps the flame being too big for the candle to burn properly.
Burn your candle for no more than 3 hours at a time. If you are burning richly scented soy candles, you may want to have a few that you can burn in rotation, to keep the scent going.
Want more ways to lengthen your candle's life? Check out the candle burning page for more information.
Buy Soy Votives
You might want to check out ebay for some deals on soy votive candles
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US $90.99
