Home Fragrance: Storage and Safety

When it comes to making your home smell beautiful, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the options available to you. A candle here, reed diffuser there and more wax melts than you can count. By the time you’re satisfied, you’ve got dozens of scented objects labout the place and worry you’ve gone overboard. But worry ye not, for the team at Eternal Essence is about to unveil some tips that should help you organise, store and care for the home fragrance products of your choice; as well as some general advice for which items you actually need.

Candles

Candles, generally speaking, consist of a body of way containing a wick. When the wick is lit, it melts the wax and evaporates the fragrance, filling the room with scent. This scent, however, doesn’t only evaporate when the candle is lit. Over time, it can slowly release into the air, much how a glass of water slowly evaporates when left in a room. So, if your candle came with a lid/box, store it inside when the candles not in use. This will stop it mixing with more air and keep that top layer of scent intact much longer. For this reason, also store the candle out of direct sunlight as it expediates the loss of scent (as well as making the wax have an odd texture/colour as it warms and cools regularly). Cupboards are ideal as they not only block light, but typically have a cooler temperature than the surrounding room; further protecting the scent.

As for how many candles you need, that really depends. If you like different scents for different rooms (living room, bedroom, bathroom etc), then you need one per room maximum. If you’re happier with a smaller array of scents, pick a couple of candles (so you don’t get sick of the same scent, unless that doesn’t happen to you) and simply take them to the room you’re going to occupy before lighting them. Although it may be tempting to light one in the bedroom so it smells nice after a long, luxurious bath, do not. Unattended flames are an extreme fire hazard, and you can never be sure if a troublesome child/pet/partner may knock it, let alone undetectable factors such as manufacturing defects (more on these in another blog, but many of these are undetectable at the factory and are only discovered when they cause an issue). This is a good general tip for any product that uses flame.

Reed Diffusers

Reed Diffusers fill a similar role to candles: filling a room with scent over a period of time (in hindsight, this covers literally every home fragrance product, but this will be developed further shortly), albeit over a longer time frame. Diffusers can last weeks to months, and do so as they release a smaller amount of fragrance. This means that it may take several hours before you notice a fragrance in the room, and it will most likely be less intense than one created by candles or melts. It does however, have the benefit of being flameless (so safer generally and can be left unattended) and requiring little to no maintenance. Once you set it up, you can forget about it until you notice it no longer produces a scent, and then refill it.

If you think you may want to stop using it before it runs out, you must keep the bung/cap and box it came in. Most diffusers feature either a screwtop lid or some kind of bung to stop the fluid spilling out the bottle, and if lost, makes putting the diffuser into storage post-opening very difficult. The box is useful for keeping everything together (reeds are very easy to lose/break when not kept in a container) and generally looks prettier in a cupboard than a random jar with some sticks.

As for how many you need, again it depends on your tastes. It’s always worth having one in the bathroom, as it helps mask any odours thaat may be left there. If you’ve got pets or other smells drifting about the house, they may be good for living areas to help them smell more pleasant. If you aren’t planning on using melts or candles, they can be any room you like. As for where not to put them, any rooms where you plan to use melts/candles often are not worth it as they’ll be masked by the smell of those products (and may interfere with the scent of those products creating an odd aroma).

Wax Melts

Wax melts are the most convenient home fragrance product if you are a person of diverse tastes that can’t stand having the same scent for more than a few burns. Pop a burner in your room of choice, and once your’e bored of a scent, remove one melt and repace it with another. As melts are essentially wickless candles, you care for them in much the same way you would a regular candle. You should keep the clamshell, bag or container they came in, to stop the scented oil slowly evaporating away. When not in use, store them in a cupboard or similar space.

Unlike candles, burners and melts are less practical for moving around the house (as you have to carry tealights, melts and the burner). Thus, it’s recommended to have one in each room you use frequently. This is typically the bedroom and living room.  Of course, you should not leave them unattended, so only light them in areas you’re going to stay for a while.

General Advice

Due to candles, melts and diffusers using flammable materials, it’s best to store them away from fire hazards or other flammable materials. Leaving them by radiators, stoves or windows (light heats, ask the ants you burned with a magnifying glass) is not only likely to damage the products, but also cause an inferno. Do NOT do this. Also avoid leaving them in cardboard boxes or around lots of papers. Wax is a fuel so you don’t want it to accidentally set alight next to other combustible objects.

For the reasons stated above, you also want to keep them away from children and pets. High cupboards tend to be out of reach of smaller people, and pets typically can’t open them (although cats can and have done, being agents of pure chaos). Wax melts may also look and smell like delicious candy, so make sure they’re kept out of reach and either in their original packaging (which should state that they’re inedible) or labelled appropriately. Cookie scented wax melts are not nearly as tasty as they smell, and will make you violently ill or hospitalise you. The same applies to candles and reed diffusers.

Finally, when using flame-based products, burn them away from anything flammable. You want to put them on a window sill (we recommend against this) Make sure any blinds/curtain are tucked away. Likewise, don’t burn them near loose papers, wreaths, blankets or clothes. If you wish to use them on the dining table, make sure they’re on top of a protective plate/covering. Knocking a candle onto a table cloth is an excellent way to ruin dinner and potentially your home. Again, keep them away from children and pets: you might know how to handle them safely, but they probably won’t.

Published 10/06/2022