Question: Why won’t this canning jar candle I bought make my living room smell good?

Answer: Well, there are a few things to consider when purchasing a candle in order to scent a particular living space. Let’s take these considerations one at a time.

A. One common misconception about a scented candle is that the flame burns the scented wax, which in turn causes the living space to smell good. Not true. In fact, the scent released from burning wax will actually be a little different from the scent of the wax that is simply pooled around the flame, because, well, it’s burning. In fact, one of the biggest benefits of our soy candle wax is that when it burns it has a more neutral smell than a paraffin (refined petroleum sludge) candle. It also doesn’t release benzene and toluene particles into the air like a paraffin candle. But I digress. Really, what you’re getting when you use a candle is a vessel that contains scented wax and a wick that burns that scented wax in order to heat up the surrounding wax, which in turn forms a hot scented wax pool that will scent the living space. To simplify, just remember this…the hot scented wax pool is what scents the living space, not the flame burning the wax.

Sooo, it stands to reason that the more of the hot wax pool that is exposed to the open air, the more scent is released into the living space. Simply put, the larger the surface area of the melted wax pool, the more fragrance will be released into the air, ergo, in order to scent a living room you need a candle/s with lot’s of surface area. Now, onto the next consideration…

B. We’ve heard this time and time again, and it really goes back to the previous discussion: “I lit a jar candle in the living room and I could only smell it in the hallway”. Well, first of all, that poor jar candle in your standard sized living room never stood a chance. We’ve covered that already but there’s another problem as well. A living room is a drafty place, typically ventilated by large windows, maybe a ceiling fan, a fireplace and/or a couple of furnace ducts. Plus there are usually pathways leading away from the living room into a hallway or a kitchen or a staircase. So really when you set out to add scent to a living room, you actually ended up scenting half of your house either barely or not at all. A dead end room such as a bathroom or bedroom is much easier to scent adequately with a single candle, or some wax melts.

C. The quality and amount of fragrance oil in a candle directly affects the amount of fragrance in your living space, period. The strength of the particular fragrance will also affect the end result. Typically a “citrusy” or “musky” fragrance will be perceived to be stronger than a “clean cotton” or an “ocean air” fragrance. Our Soy Candles hold approximately 50% more fragrance oil than a comparably sized paraffin candle so it stands to reason that the fragrance from our Soy Candles will be stronger. In fact, we add the absolute maximum amount of fragrance that a soy candle will hold. The added fragrance will definitely help a smaller candle scent a larger space.