How to Choose a Beeswax Candle

There are many factors that go into choosing a beeswax candle that will be best for your burning expectations.

THE WICKING

The wicking in each of our candles is essentially the most important factor. They are made from natural plant fibers, as this is the only type of wicking that withstands the long burning properties of beeswax. Each wick is stranded to a specific thickness to suit the different diameters of candles.

Each candle is designed to burn within the diameter of that size of candle, given that the wick stays trimmed between 3/16″ (5 mm) to 3/8″ (9 mm) long. The benefit of using plant fiber wicks is that they do not disintegrate or burn down on their own. This is very important, as normal wicks will burn completely away long before the pure beeswax candle would properly consume the fuel.

It is important to trim the wick back to 3/16″ each time before you re-light the candle. As the candle wax burns down, you will need to re-trim the wick, or ‘hug’ your candle. See HOW TO BURN instructions for more complete instructions.

THE ECONOMICS OF THE DIFFERENT DIAMETERS

We make our candles in a variety of different sizes to provide the best candle for efficient, economic use. Each different diameter of candle has been designed in a balance between the wick and the width of the candle.
For example, the Temple Lite models are 3 inches wide. When you light a TL6, with the wick trimmed to 3/16″ (5 mm), it will take 2.5 to 3 hours to melt the pool to within 1/4″ of the edge. This wick is designed to burn shy of the edge to prevent the liquid pool of wax from leaking out. While the flame is melting the pool of wax (it is not evaporating it, it is merely melting it), there is minimal burn-off.

Once the pool reaches the full melt diameter to which that wick will melt, the candle then starts to burn down. If this TL6 is extinguished any time after three hours, you will find that there is barely an eighth of an inch gone. Even if you continue burning this candle you still get incredible value, dollar per hour, when compared to the paraffin alternatives, soy and veg wax candles, and less-than-pure-beeswax candles.

Below is a chart to explain the hours of use that will give the
maximum efficiency and economy for each of our different candle lines.

This is not to say that any one of these candles cannot be burned for a longer period of time.

MODEL: CASTLE  GLOWS GENERAL BURN TIME: 1 – 3 hrs. per burning    SUGGESTED MAINTENANCE:   2 hrs. – then every hr.

MODEL: TEMPLE LIGHT S2   GENERAL BURN TIME:  2- 4 hrs. per burning    SUGGESTED MAINTENANCE: 3 hrs. – then every 1.5 hrs.

MODEL: ETERNAL FLAMES    GENERAL BURN TIME:  3 – 6 hrs. per burning    SUGGESTED MAINTENANCE: 4 hrs. – then every 2 hrs.

MODEL: TRIPLE WICKS    GENERAL BURN TIME:  2 – 12 hrs. per burning    SUGGESTED MAINTENANCE: 3 hrs. – then every 2 hrs.

Please take note of the How to Burn ~ Suggested Maintenancetiming in which you should either trim the wick back to 3/16″ (5 mm) or preferably, push the side walls into the liquid pool to raise the level of the wax, which will shorten the wick at the same time. Most of our candles can be ‘hugged’ two times before it is necessary to trim the wick.