Wondering which candles to use for your holiday dinner?
At our on-the-grid cottage, we burn candles for ambiance, not out of necessity. I’ve spent many mornings peeling little pools of wax off the dining room table after a long dinner the night before. It’s a ritual I find oddly satisfying (I know, a bit weird, but so be it) so I don’t make a fuss about finding non-drip candles that don’t make this “mess.” I also don’t like using scented varieties at the cottage, since they obscure the smell of clean, pine-scented air that I go there for in the first place. Since I’m more of a traditionalist, I prefer tapers over cylinders. And what to so with all those little jars after the cylinder candle is burnt? (Any suggestions?)
It seems I am particular about candles. Which is why I was pleased to see this article on NYTimes.com. Writer Stephen Treffinger compared the strengths and weaknesses of different candles, considering the length of burn time, quality of light, and smell. If I take his word for it, I should be looking for tapers made of pure soy. They burn slowly, have no scent and, if left to burn long enough, make lots of drips.
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I, too, like candles at dinner time.….even if just my husband and I. There was one special evening where we sat at a candlelit dinner.….all other lights off.…..watching a lightening storm coming across the lake. It will remain in our hearts and minds as one “spectacular” dinner!
I find the best candles that last the longest, are the cheapest and are unscented are found at Ikea. We make a Ikea “run” each spring for our supply of candles.
I use the left over wax from those burnt down candles to cover Pine Cones to use as Fire Starters. I save those “bits”, melt them down in a pot on the stove, and then dip Pine Cones that the kids have collected over the Summer, let them dry on some wax paper, and then store them in a metal pot for Fire Starters. If you lucky enough to have a couple of scented left overs, then the room will fill with a wonderful aroma when you start up the Fire. Great for starting a Bonfire in the Summer as well, and you don’t need to worry about hauling out half the newsprint that the wind carries all over the yard.
Please don’t be fooled thinking that soy wax is benign. Beeswax is the only natural & sustainable non-toxic candle wax. And artificial fragrances are one of the worst house-toxifiers (if there is such a word) you can use. Don’t buy anything with artificial fragrances (if it uses the words ‘fragrance’ or ‘scent’, it’s a toxic chemical). For more info, please see http://bit.ly/dWD1V
Also, wax can be removed from fabrics & rugs by covering the wax with paper towel and pressing with an iron. The heat melts the wax into the paper towel.