The joy of lighting a candle is never lost on me. But until I became a Chandler, I never realised the huge amount of work behind harvesting a single candle! It is the dedication of a good chandler that makes a great candle, and that will in turn bring many hours of joy to its recipient. Below I take you through some of the considerations we take into account when making our Muskoka Scented Candles.
1. The first step is choosing the vessel that you want to fill. Considerations include the ‘theme’ of the vessel and its size, will it house one wick or two? Will it need a sticker or label? How will it be dressed?
2. Then what type of wax will be chosen? Organic soy wax? Paraffin wax? Coco-soy? Beeswax? There are many different varieties of wax to choose from and each have different properties - i.e. some are harder than others, some blend more easily with fragrances, some create different effects when setting etc… Also, how hot will your wax need to be in order to be mixed with the fragrances without exceeding their flash point? How will you heat the wax without it burning and how will you keep the temperature of the wax constant?
3. What type of wick will be needed? There are indeed hundreds of types and sizes of wicks, and to choose the right wick for the vessel diameter you have chosen and to suit the wax type are all things to take into consideration. Will you choose an eco wick that burns cleaner or go with a cotton based wick that puts out a bigger flame but runs the risk of being a little sooty? Will you choose a wick free of lead and zinc?
4. What fragrances will be used? There are hundreds of fragrance oils on the market - and selecting the correctly scented oils is a daunting task for the chandler. Will you choose Fragrance oils, Natural Fragrance oils, Essential oils or Pure Essential oils or a mixture of these? Studying the pros and cons of each of these categories and how they burn within a candle are all things to take into account so that a top quality candle with a beautiful fragrance throw can be achieved. Many, many hours can be spent creating the perfect blend and ratios of fragrances just to create one scent. These all need to be documented so that further batches can be replicated of this fragrance without any deviation. Many trial runs are needed to ensure that you are happy with the quality of the fragrance and that the candle throws a good scent when it is lit.
Muskoka Lifestyle candles each have a theme and their scent is created to match.
This is the process that has taken the most time and a lot of dedicated thought. Once all of these factors are decided, it is time to do the pouring of the wax into the vessel. For me this is a very very special time. The frequency and energy of this moment matters - if I make these candles with a loving and peaceful intent, then that will be felt by the person who receives and lights their candle from my range. These are artisan candles and not mass produced. They are created with an intent to Nurture Mind, Body & Spirit. So, when they are poured, it is fitting that beautiful music is playing and all is calm. Often a golden retriever or two might be sleeping close by keeping the chandler company.
Bliss. Anna x