Candles & Scents

Candles and scents cover wax candles, from tapers and votives to jar candles, plus flameless home fragrance such as reed diffusers and room sprays. In a candle, the flame melts the wax, the wick draws the liquid up, and the heat turns it into vapor that burns.

How to choose Candles & Scents

  • Wax type. Paraffin is refined from petroleum. Soybean wax, developed by US agricultural chemists in the 1990s, is softer than paraffin and burns more slowly.
  • Jar or pillar. A jar candle is finished with half an inch of wax still in the bottom. A pillar is done when it is down to 2 inches.
  • Scent load. A candle can only hold so much fragrance before it stops burning cleanly, so a stronger scent is not always a better candle.
  • Wick core. US rules bar metal-cored wicks with more than 0.06 percent lead in the core.

About Candles & Scents

Candles and scents light a room, perfume it, or both, since a candle can be scented or plain. An estimated 75 to 80 percent of candles sold in the US are scented, and about three in four buyers rate fragrance as highly important. Reed diffusers and room sprays give the same scent with no flame.

Burning one well comes down to habits. Cut the wick to 1/4 inch every time, which keeps the flame low and cuts down on soot. Keep candles away from vents and drafts, and give a group of them room so they do not melt into each other. Avoid short burns that never let the wax melt fully.

At a glance

Made from
Candle wax: paraffin, soy, beeswax, palm, stearin and blends
Main types
Tapers, votives, pillars, tealights, jar candles
Also called
Home fragrance, room scents

Candles & Scents questions

How should you put out a candle?

Use a snuffer, which smothers the flame without splattering hot wax. Never pour water on a candle: the wax can splatter, and a glass container can crack. Make sure the wick has stopped glowing before you leave the room, and let a jar cool before you move it.

Should you push leftover wax down in a jar candle?

No. Do not press wax into a hot candle, and keep wick trimmings and matches out of the melted pool. The wax left clinging to the sides of a jar actually helps, because it keeps the candle from running too hot. Leave the jar where it is until the wax has hardened again, since a candle should not be moved while its wax is liquid.

What were candles made of before paraffin?

In Europe, mostly tallow, rendered animal fat, which burned smoky. Beeswax arrived in the Middle Ages and burned cleaner, but it was costly, so it went mainly to churches and wealthy homes. Whaling brought spermaceti candles in the late 18th century, stearin followed in the 1820s, and paraffin refined from petroleum came in the 1850s.

Sources: National Candle Association; US Consumer Product Safety Commission rules (16 CFR 1500.17).

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