Non-Toxic Candles | What To Consider

When I started Applewood Candle Co., I was a mom on a mission (dog-mom, that is!)!

I had just brought home my puppy, Magnolia, and immediately she showed signs of being allergic to the fragrances and candles that filled my house. I was determined to create a line of non-toxic candles that could be safely burned around pets and the entire family.

 
In this article, I will share what you should consider when purchasing candles.

 

Why Applewood?

My candles are 100% free from harmful chemicals and provide a calming burn that will not release toxins into the air. Here are a few things to consider when purchasing candles:
 

Non-Toxic

Hands down, all of the ingredients in a candle should be non-toxic, no chemicals. Shockingly, many commercial candles are full of toxic ingredients.

Clean Burning

When candles are lit, they shouldn’t produce any smoke or soot. In our candles, we use coconut soy wax which is sustainably created in the USA with soy purchased from local, US farmers and grown without the use of GMOs. With coconut soy wax, we obtain the cleanest burn possible!

Small Batch

Our candles are all hand-poured by me, Allison, founder, and maker. I hand-mix our scent blends, wash each vessel, center each wick, and pour every single candle! After our candles are poured, I melt down the tops of the candle to release any trapped air bubbles (so you receive the perfect burn, every single time!) - this process happens 2-3 times before they are hand-packaged and ready for your enjoyment!

Clean Ingredients  

“Clean” can be categorized by SO many different things these days - to me, clean ingredients are ingredients and raw materials that don't contain any prop65 ingredients, toxins, carcinogens, etc. - this might sound obvious, but there can be some scary things in candles these days - but NOT in ours!

Tests Candles

I take test burning VERY seriously! In fact, each and every blend AND accompanying vessel undergoes at least three rounds of testing before I make batches to share. 
 
Each scent blend is comprised of unique notes, all of which burn differently. This means, each scent could potentially use a different size wick.
 
Our first round of testing includes a few differently-sized wicks, per vessel. Once we burn through them and find the best wick, I create another round of tests using that same combination. If this test passes, we do one final round of testing to double-check our work. Then, we are ready for production!
 
While this might sound simple, this process takes MONTHS, and needs to be recreated for each and every vessel, even if using the same scent. Talk about a lot of test candles! Fun fact: we test a minimum of 36 candles in this process.

 

Breakdown of Our Non-Toxic Candle

In the last few years, I’ve updated and tweaked our blends, ingredients, and even our wicks. If there’s ever an improvement I can make, I do it.
 
It all comes down to clean, pure ingredients:
 

Coconut Soy Wax

We LOVED our signature soy wax - it burned clean, but it didn't leave our candles looking as 'beautiful' and fresh after they’d been lit. By adding in coconut wax, we now have a candle that burns clean, and looks aesthetically pleasing after each burn.
 
Coconut soy candles also burn longer, and the scent is slightly stronger! Win, win, win!

Fragrance

Our scent blends are a mix of oils free of phthalates, parabens, prop 65 ingredients, carcinogens, mutagens, acute toxins, reproductive toxins, and organ toxins. They are also cruelty-free and vegan.

While this may seem like a ‘no-brainer,’ many candles on the market are made with fragrances that contain the above toxins. Unfortunately, they may even be labeled as ‘pure,’ ‘soy,’ or ‘vegetable wax’ candles, when really, they’re only using a small percentage of the labeled ingredient. Packaging and marketing can be truly deceptive.

Wooden Wick

Our wicks are made from uncoated, natural wood from Sappy Fruit trees. All of our wood is sustainably sourced from FSC-certified, U.S. mills. For every 200 wicks purchased from our supplier, a tree is planted on our behalf. Let’s just say there is a little Applewood forest out there somewhere!

Burn

When I was learning how to develop non-toxic candles, I learned all about the harmful chemicals that are in traditional candles and how they release toxins into the air when burned. Due to the clean ingredients, we use, we have created what I believe to be the “perfect,” non-toxic candle!

 
If you have questions or are still uncertain about what to consider when purchasing your next candle, please feel free to contact me here.