With the festive season in full swing and the bright lights illuminating our houses each day, it is essential to maintain and upkeep our favourite candle holders, lanterns and tea lights in the best shape possible. Since they are reusable in nature and can be utilised all year round, you can make the most of them by following some simple steps that will not only ensure their longevity but will also make them look bright, beautiful and squeaky clean.
The biggest enemy of any candle stand, tea light holder and lantern is wax which gets solidified and will not budge from its place. Cleaning it can become a big hassle and your relentless effort to scrape off the wax to make room for the next use can actually tarnish the surface underneath that will culminate in you losing your favourite piece of lighting. With these quick and easy hacks, you can easily have fresh and new-looking lighting each time in just a matter of minutes.
- Always keep in mind to rub a thin coat of any non-staining oil like coconut oil, olive oil or jojoba oil on the base of your candle holder or lantern. This will ensure that the wax does not stick to the surface and will keep your cleaning time to a minimum as it will slide right off.
- For metal candle holders/lanterns the best you can do is run them under hot water to let the wax melt off from the surface but make sure to read about the product first if it can withstand hot water on its body or not.
- Petroleum jelly also works wonders in creating a barrier from letting wax stick to the surface and is easily available in everyone’s home. Just apply some petroleum jelly on the base before lighting the candle.
- Votive candles can be difficult to clean sometimes since they are closer to the inner surface or holder. So use some water on the surface so that a thin layer can stop it from sticking.
- One of the safest ways to remove wax is by sticking the candle holder in the freezer since the low temperature will make the wax consolidate and harden and will easily pop out of any surface.
Maintaining For Perennial Use
Now that you know how to clean your candle holders and lanterns, then comes the question of how to better maintain and use them. There are a few things to keep in mind so that your beloved lighting option will not only grace your home but will also not be a one-time-use commodity but rather a one-time investment.
- Before burning the candle, make sure any stickers or labels are removed so that they don’t get burned or stick to the surface forever.
- Trim the wick of any large candle since it can last very long and can become a hazard. So keep the wick smaller if you are not that mindful of checking it again and again. If you want to keep the wick longer then keep cutting it from time to time.
- Avoid placing candles or tea lights near flammable objects like curtains, pillows and other fabrics. Don’t place them on a plastic surface since the base gets heated up and can cause the plastic to melt.
- Always buy very good quality products that are durable since flaming hazards can happen in your home. You can check out Arcedior Shop which has a curated range of high-quality lighting options that are hand-crafted and are of perennial usage.
Storing To Prevent Breakage
Some lighting options are extremely durable and sturdy while others are prone to breakage. To prevent their undue breakage, you can store your favourite items in ways that when you open them next time for any festival season, you will find them in the best conditions for you to enjoy their luminescence again.
- Lanterns are essentially a little bigger in size than candle holders and tea lights and are often made up of materials like metal, steel and glass. Though nowadays the glass is of good quality and doesn’t break easily, still storing them in their designated package in which they arrived will induce better care. If you have chucked the package away then don’t fret since you can place them in any unused cardboard box and use loads of scrunched-up newspaper so that it doesn’t move. You can even use Styrofoam which is the holy grail for keeping products safe from any breakage.
- Candle holders are made from so many materials available in the market that you will lose count. Some brass and metal candle holders when coming in contact with air or due to the process of ageing can become dull, so in order to prevent that from happening you can wrap them with newspaper or any soft cloth and place them in a cardboard box.
- Tea light holders are smaller and can get lost as we tend to forget where we placed them. You can put labels or stickers on the box in which you are placing them and keep them in front where you can see the box since they get utilised the most throughout the year.
Having done her Bachelor’s in Technology, Shruti always has an inclination towards implementing technology in day to day life. Being a business owner and homemaker she is superb at multitasking and manages the sourcing and operations of the company. On the personal front, she is very fond of reading, gardening, cooking and drawing. Through her worldview, she is always brewing fresh content in her mind with her hobbies reflecting in her work.
