For most people, lighting a perfect scented candle is the best way to relax at home after a long and stressful day. No wonder, as nowadays you can find the most unique fragrances for every occasion. However, in some cases you might experience issues with your candle that can be really annoying. Problems such as a flickering flame or black smoke can be noticed when the quality of your candle is not the best. It is annoying as a candle maker and as a user as well. So if you ever wondered why candles sometimes smoke black, this post is for you! Let’s see what you need to know about the issue.

Reasons for soot and black smoke

First of all, we should talk a bit about soot in order to understand the burning process. Soot is the black stain which you can notice sometimes on your candle jar. This carbon substance is the result of incomplete burning process. Apart from soot, you might as well experience black smoke while burning your favourite candle. This can obviously ruin the experience, given the fact that we usually light candles to relax and enjoy the scent. So, black smoke and soot left on the candle jar can become mood killers quite quickly. In order to avoid it, you should know why it happens sometimes.

The most common reason for this is a too long wick. During burning, a long wick can’t draw up the melted wax to the top and it will result in excessive soot. When this built-up soot starts to burn, it will burn with black smoke. Another reason can be the used additives, like fragrance oils and coloring ingredients - especially if you don’t pay attention to the quality of the ingredients. Furthermore, too much additives can result in a clogged wick which is another common reason for black smoke. All the more reasons to pay attention to the small details such as the quality and quantity of used additives.

Avoiding black smoke

Now that we know the reasons, it will be easier to avoid this rather annoying issue. First of all, before lighting your candle, always check the size of the wick and trim it if needed. This will ensure that you won’t end up with irregular combustion or a flickering flame. Furthermore, make sure to keep your candle away from drafts as a flickering flame can also cause excessive soot.

Lastly, if your candle jar is already burnt, you have to clean it before lighting your candle. A wet wipe can easily remove soot from your candle jar, as well as built up dust and debris which can produce soot if left on the jar for too long.

All things considered, some sort of irregular burning is usually to blame for soot and black smoke. In order to avoid this problem, always check your wick as well as your jar before lighting the candle. This way you can enjoy your favourite scented candle without any inconvenience.