How many candles do I need?

Here at Hemp Wick Candles I want my customers to stay informed. Tonight's blog post is going to focus on how many candles you should have per room to ensure even strong scent. The answer is kind of long, so I figured a blog post would be the easiest way to answer this question. 

Let's start with a little background on wax types. Soy wax, which is what we use, is an organic vegetable based wax, and tends to have a softer fragrance when burning. Most store bought candles are made with paraffin wax, which is a petroleum based wax that has had some controversy surround it due to it containing toxins that cause everything from headaches to cancer. The studies on it tend to be all over the place though, and some candle makers prefer it because it gives off a very fragrant candle. When I started making candles and founded Hemp Wick Candles, I decided not to risk it and went with 100% organic soy wax for this reason. I knew that the scent would be much fainter than with paraffin, but like studies claim, my children and I do experience headaches and sinus issues with store bought candles containing paraffin. 

Another note on store bought mass produced candles. Popular store candle brands are generally poured with machines and get "topped off" with a stronger shot of scented wax before packaging. This ensures the candle is very strong when smelt in the store, but after a few lights they lose their strength. We do not double pour and stick to our fragrance oil suppliers' recommended percentage of fragrance oil to wax for safety here at Hemp Wick Candles. This includes lots of math when we custom blend our oils as well. Every one of our candle batches are small and completely hand poured. Unfortunately, customers who are used to "topped off" candles can sometimes be disappointed when they switch over to hand poured organic candles. 

So what's the solution? It depends. Some fragrance blends are naturally stronger than others in soy wax. That is why I test every scent in the wax before selling it. I test for safety reasons as well, but that is a whole other blog post.

Your wick also has a great deal of how much fragrance you will get. If you have been with us for a little while, then you know that we started out using 100% organic hemp wick. However, we switched to organic cotton wrapped hemp wick because we were concerned with the stability of organic hemp wick in larger candles. The organic cotton wrapped hemp wicks are more stable and provide a better scent disbursement in the larger jar candles. We still use the organic hemp wick in our tea lights as they are not as tall and do not weaken due to having a much smaller pool of hot wax when lit. Currently we are testing organic hemp wick in beeswax pillar candles, which also have small wax pools, if any at all. 

What about the hemp? The hemp plays an important role by itself. Its an organic ingredient and will not be harmful to pets or people when burned. It doesn't contain THC or CBD, and will not cause headaches like bleached cotton wicks or wicks containing zinc. It allows for a longer candle burn than cotton alone, which allows your fragrance in your candle to distribute more evenly. However, to get the most from these wicks, you must be sure to trim them before each light. Otherwise they will get too hot and cause the glass to get too hot. This could cause the glass to burst and your fragrance oil to just burn off the wax in the candle. Burning a candle longer than the time on the warning label is for safety, but it also affects the fragrance and longevity of your candle overall. I recommend only burning our candles for no more than 3 hours at a time before extinguishing them to get maximum safety and fragrance from them. This way you can enjoy them longer. 

Anyway, the best way to gauge how many candles you need is by looking at the room sizes in your home that you would like to use candles in. If you are using candles in an average sized bathroom then you can get away with a 2 to 4 oz. candle. Average sized bedrooms use a 5 to 8 oz. candle. For very large open spaces use one 6 to 8 oz. candle per 10 square feet. 

What about the leaf wax melts we put in our warmer? Wax melts are a little different because they have a different heating source and no wick. They tend to be a little stronger, especially when using them in electric warmers. This is because they melt faster than a candle with a wick. However, if you burn them more than two hours at a time then the fragrance in the melts could burn off the wax. Then when you melt again you won't have any fragrance at all. It's also a fire hazard. The best way to use melts is to ensure you are using enough melts for your warmer size. Let them rest after two hours of warming and allow them to completely solidify before melting them again. If you have large open spaces, you may need to use more than one warmer to get an even strong fragrance throughout the space. 

I hope this answered a lot of questions! If you have a question you would like me to answer, then email us at info@hempwickcandle.com.