Candles make a great addition to any home but they can also be a fire hazard if used incorrectly. Here are some safety tips to keep in mind.

• It's important to never leave a burning candle unattended. Always extinguish candles before leaving a room or going to bed.

• Never burn a candle on or near anything that can catch fire (curtains, books, bedding, etc), place candles on a stable heat resistant surface as vessels can become hot when in use, this will prevent damage and risk of injury.

• It's advised that you avoid burning candles for more than 4 hours at a time, and to never burn a candle with less than 1cm of wax at the base.

• Candle jars can become hot and remain hot after burning, so it's important to allow the wax to completely cool before handling/moving.

If you didn't already know, there is in fact a correct way to burn your candles and we've put together a list of things we think you should know to care for your candles.

• Its important that you light your candle in a ventilated room away from drafts or fans, as this can cause sooting (black marks on the inside of your candle jar), uneven burning or rapid burning.

• Candle wax has a memory, this means your candle remembers where it was burnt up to on its first burn and after this it will only ever burn up to the last point it was extinguished. So on your first burn its important that you allow your candle to form a full wax pool, this will prevent tunnelling in future.

• Always trim your candle wick to 1/4 inch or 5mm after every burn as this allows the flame to burn brighter and your candle will last longer. We recommend using a wick trimmer to trim your wicks as they are specially designed to catch wick trimmings to keep your candles clear of debris but for more information about the benefits of using a wick trimmer, check out our blog post 'Are Wick Trimmers Worth It?'

• Keep candles out of reach of children and pets to prevent accidents and risk of injury.

• To extinguish, avoid blowing out your candles as this can actually cause your candles to form an uneven wax pool causing them to tunnel so we recommend using a Candle Snuffer also known as a Wick Snuffer to extinguish your candles. These are designed to quickly extinguish your candles and minimise the amount of smoke produced.

Using a wick trimmer is easy, you use them just like you would a pair of scissors with one key difference. Place the bottom of the trimmer flush with the surface of the candle, lean the trimmer toward you so the plate/base of the trimmer is pointing up at a 45 degree angle, leaving roughly 1/4 inches of wick remaining to avoid an uneven burn.

Only trim your wicks when the candle has been extinguished and is at room temperature.