What are Clean Burning Candles?

Clean burning is more than a buzzword. But what are clean burning candles, actually? We’ve broken it down to the three things you should look for when buying candles to help you find one that won’t do more harm than good in your home.

100% Natural Wax

Look for candles that use all natural wax like soy, beeswax, coconut, or even apricot. Be careful of blends because these can sneak in paraffin wax — a popular wax made from petroleum by products. You’ll know a candle uses all natural wax because it will be easy to find that information on the label or on their website. A company using more expensive, higher quality base ingredients will definitely want you to know about it. We only use 100% soy wax in our candles. (See how easy that was to find?)

100% cotton wicks

The wick is an often forgotten element of a candle but an all important one to create a clean burning candle. You should look for 100% cotton, or wood wicks if you prefer them, as these don’t contain heavy metals like lead or zinc which can sometimes be used in the cores of wicks.

Clean fragrance oils

This term is not meant to be secretive, but it can be hard to understand. Because there is no industry standard or requirement for what has to be labeled on a candle when you see something labeled as a “clean fragrance” you should seek out specifics of what that means for that product. At Alcott, it means toxin-, mutagen-, carcinogen-, and phthalate-free fragrance oils that meet California Prop 65 standards.

How these create clean burning candles

When you combine cotton wicks, clean fragrance oils, and an all natural wax you get a candle that will burn without soot and smoke when used as suggested. Beyond a soot and smoke free experience, a clean burning candle is better for you, your family, and the planet. Using ingredients that are natural and free of harmful chemicals means we lessen our dependency on these products that hurt the planet — and you won’t be exposed to them in your own home.