It’s winter, and everyone is all about hygge lately, so I bet you’ve been spending lots of time bundled up in layers and blankets, drinking mugs of chai and burning candles all over your house. And I hate to be that person, but you might not be doing yourself any favors with those candles.
Cheap candles send a lot of junk into the air [source]. And when you’ve got your windows closed during winter, that junk has no place to go, so it lingers in your home. Burn candles every night, and the air in your house can get pretty unhealthy.
So how do you find non-toxic candles? Well, you could make your own, but when you’re shopping for candles, look for the following:
Natural Fragrance
Essential oils are ideal. I’ve found that if a scent is true to nature, it’s more likely to be natural.
If you pick up a candle that’s supposed to smell like fresh linen or a sandy beach, it’s a pretty safe bet that the fragrance it contains is synthetic. (Why do candle makers think beaches smell like cheap perfume?!)
Studies have looked at specific types of scented candles and found that they release formaldehyde into the air, along with many other toxic volatile compounds—even when not lit [source]!
Of course, to be 100% sure, check the label or the manufacturer’s website and see if the fragrance they use is free of phthalates and other chemicals.
Cotton or wood wicks
You know how sometimes there’s a little wire in the center of a candle wick? That’s a lead core, and burning a candle with it emits lead into the air [source].
Burn these candles often and in enclosed spaces, and there’s even a potential for lead poisoning. There’s no amount of lead that’s safe to ingest.
While it’s now illegal to manufacture candles with lead-cored wicks in the United States, cheap candles from overseas may still have them. So if you have candles that have a lead-core in your house, throw them out—especially if you have children.
Non-paraffin wax
Paraffin is a byproduct of the petroleum industry, and it’s the most commonly used wax in candles. We put paraffin candles on our birthday cakes and dinner tables, but it’s probably time to ditch them because paraffin wax releases toxins like toluene and benzene into the air while it burns. Instead, opt for candles made with natural waxes like soy, coconut, or beeswax.
9 Non-Toxic Candles We Love
Natural Candle Gift Set // Give the gift of soft and cozy light with a 3-piece set of natural candles. Scents include sycamore fig, baltic amber, and twig & moss.
Sparkling Mimosa Soy Candle // Cheers to this sparkling mimosa soy candle, which blends notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon peel, and ginger and burns for more than 40 hours.
Northern Lights Herbal Candles // The candles that keep on giving! After your candle is completely burned, you can reuse the container as a planter, using the herb seeds it comes with.
Chesapeake Bay Peace + Tranquility Candle // We could all use some peace and tranquility right now, and this candle diffuses a pleasant aroma of cashmere and jasmine to do just that.
NaturalAnnie Essentials Currently Overthinking // These small batch candles are made in Connecticut and they use vegan soy wax and a cotton wick along with essential oils to create the perfect anti-anxiety tool.
Zodiac Collection Boxed Candle // Find the perfect scented candle for your zodiac sign, whether that's Fresh Woody for Capricorns or Floral Gourmand for Gemini.
Birthday Candles Beeswax // Ensure the rainbow-colored candles on that birthday cake won't add anything nasty to the plate by opting for natural beeswax.
Soy Wax Tin Candle // If you need to travel with candles, these small tin-can soy wax ones are the perfect choice, scented with grapefruit or lime palo santo, among others.
BeeTheLight Beeswax Votive Candles // Simple in style, the ingredient list for these candles is also quite simple: pure beeswax and a cotton wick.
Related
Want to make your own non-toxic candles? There tutorials are a great place to get you started:
