Preventing Sooty Residue from Candles

How many candles are you burning and how clean does your house have to be? I have never heard of anything like this. People burn candles all the time; there is no residue on windows that is difficult to remove!

A candle is not like cigarettes or a campfire, even if it is the cheapest little candle available. Candles do not set off smoke detectors, which should indicate to one and all how insignificant the amount of smoke that they emit is!

Look for beeswax candles but be aware real beeswax tapers and pillar candles are incredibly expensive. They are smokeless and pretty much dripless, though.

But the best, safest thing really would be to use battery operated candles. I'm using battery operated tea lights set inside recycled jars to sit on my windowsills; very pretty and look just like the real thing especially when standing on the outside looking in. So do the battery operated tapers, btw.

They will and so will your lungs and everything else in your house. It is just like smoking a cigarette. Small decorations that use tiny bulbs will give you the same effect.

Yes, if you use soy -based candles or other better types, rather than the ones from the dollar store (alas!) there won't be soot! They soy-based candles are now available in major brands at drug and grocery stores.

I also should have mentioned: do not burn candles in a room that you are not in. Be careful where you place them, you don't want a breeze to blow the flame into something else, nor blow something else into the flame. Keep them far from anything flammable. Do not burn jar candles to the very bottom of the jar. No real candles on the Christmas Tree.

If in doubt, there are battery operated candles that are quite nice--even some scented ones.

Hopefully others will post candle safety tips, too. There are far too many holidays ruined by house fires!

You should not have problems if you follow some simple steps:
a. Choose quality candles. They have been formulated (amount of wax, hardeners, scent/color) to burn as cleanly as possible.

b. Keep the wick trimmed. It shouldn't be so long as to cause the flame to really flicker and create any black smoke. You may have to do this periodically as they burn. Just use your scissors, then you can wipe the soot from them with a paper towel.

c. Don't overdo. You don't need 35 candles to create scent and ambiance.

Enjoy.