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Candles, do you like it dislike them

(122 Posts)
rafichagran Wed 16-Feb-22 15:10:33

I love candles, the smell and the ambience, cheers my house up on a day like today, very overcast.
I love going round the charity shops and buying known brands. I do not pay more than £3.00 for the named brands. I have noticed the best time to buy them is now, as people seem to donate them as unwanted Christmas presents. I am burning a Oliver Bonus one now a bargain at £2.99. I also like Yankee and Neom.
If you like them, what are your favourites?

knspol Thu 17-Feb-22 12:32:05

Use diffusers and candles (plus extractor fan) to help get rid of cooking smells in open plan house. Took me a long time to find ones that weren't sickly or too strong. Love Jo Malone candles but have recently tried M&S which are lots cheaper and not bad.

Mummer Thu 17-Feb-22 12:35:13

tanith

Can’t abide them, fills the house with sickly smelling fumes and chemicals. No thankyou.

You're definitely buying very low end! Camel sht and deisel oil?!?

Petalpop Thu 17-Feb-22 12:36:38

I love candles but I don't use them often these days as I have to make sure the cats are not in the room when I have a candle burning. Many years ago I had candles above the fireplace and one of my cats walked behind it and nearly went up in flames. It was only the quick thinking of my DS that saved her.

MissAdventure Thu 17-Feb-22 12:38:56

shock
Oh that's awful!

Yammy Thu 17-Feb-22 12:39:24

My DD's buy me them and infusers DH puts them out. I like Diptique and Neom. I have got away with a White company diffuser. We also have three from the Lakeland Candle company, St Bees, Whitehaven and Cleator Moor the latter smells of clean washing. They were on TV before Christmas and I wanted to support a remote nearly local Company.
I do know of two very bad fires caused by candles, a friend lit three on her bathroom window sill and forgot to put them out, her blind accidentally came further down during the night and caught fire.
The other was a fire brigade job, at a group of friends got together, the hostess made beautiful flower arrangements with lit candles. They went into the dining room and the draught from the door made the curtains flutter onto a candle. The smell eventually got to the dining room but the curtains and window frames were on fire.

Mummer Thu 17-Feb-22 12:39:41

Best I've ever had and I've had 1000s over last 45 years! Aldi big glass with metal kids and st evel they're the only ones that burn evenly without waste due to using proper wicks and not just bits of string! Natural oils and lovely scents/perfumes! We have very long tradition of candles in German family, both for practical reasons for smoke clearing in old days to elaborate carved Easter and Christmas ones passed down unlit to generations.

Esmay Thu 17-Feb-22 12:41:43

I don't like heavily scented candles .
Aren't Yankee ones full of dangerous chemicals ?

Just plain ones for power cuts !

I have to be super careful as my father has an oxygen machine and emergency tanks .

One Christmas when they were off - I dared to light candles on the dining room table.
Admittedly it's about 20 ' away .
Imagine my horror when a valve broke on a tank flooding the downstairs with oxygen .
I was expecting guests and having a quick dip in the bath .
I opened every window .
I ran to my neighbours to get them to move the tank - they were out
The fire brigade refused to come !
The tank ran out .
It really unnerved me .

1summer Thu 17-Feb-22 12:49:01

I do love a candle but stopped using them as husband has leukaemia and I realised they may not be healthy. The Yankee ones seem very sooty, I used to buy the Aldi ones and loved them.

Does anyone know of a good brand of natural, no chemicals-non toxic lovely smelling candle. If they make such a thing?

Llamedos13 Thu 17-Feb-22 12:57:50

Rafichagran, I’m with you, love candles and hunt them down in my nearby charity shops,found one yesterday for $2 that was priced at $35 on their web site.I also use the battery operated candles, some of them look very realistic these days.

MickyD Thu 17-Feb-22 13:00:03

Really like them. I always put 2 or 3 Yankees on in the house when I’m home from work. Love the Cherry but my fave is Lemon Lavender. I think that’s what heaven smells like. ?

MissAdventure Thu 17-Feb-22 13:02:45

I love lemongrass smells.
I might try to grow some this year. smile

Daisydaisydaisy Thu 17-Feb-22 13:04:41

Hi there.Love them...Great idea re charity shops thank yousmile

henetha Thu 17-Feb-22 13:04:41

I quite like scented candles but am very wary of using them too much since I read that we should limit their use due to the chemicals in them which is not good for our lungs.
I don't think Wiggy likes them either. So I don't often light them, and then only for a little while.
I always keep a stock of ordinary candles though in case of power cuts.

MissAdventure Thu 17-Feb-22 13:07:53

I was pondering the idea of floating some fresh lemongrass in my oil burner with a drop of water.
Then I realised I need a candle to heat the water.

GoldenAge Thu 17-Feb-22 13:17:56

I use aromatic candles in my therapy room but keep it well ventilated. Talking of cheap and expensive, it's not the case that all cheap ones are rubbish and environmentally-friendly or vice versa. Those that are bad send off black fumes and I've had some relatively expensive ones that do that. Favourites at the top of the price range Diptyque, and lower down the scale Joseph Sandall, London Lily, The Amber Collection and Valennte. Valennte especially are really good value, a small husband and wife company and totally eco-friendly. I don't like candles with three wicks as invariably they leave a tunnel as the wicks burn down meaning a great waste of wax, and those with wood wicks that crackle I find tend to give off unwanted smoke.

grandtanteJE65 Thu 17-Feb-22 13:23:51

I love ordinary candles, by which I mean the unperfumed ones.

Perfumed candles give me a headache and DH fits of sneezing . so they are banned in our house.

Saggi Thu 17-Feb-22 13:27:14

I’m with Tanith…. sickly smells …. People seem to like buying them for us oldies …. I pass them on to charity.

Treetops05 Thu 17-Feb-22 14:18:09

Love them, since I became a beekeeper I make my own though x

helgawills Thu 17-Feb-22 14:23:09

I mainly use candles (beeswax) on the Christmas tree. Don't buy scented ones as I have a lung condition

rafichagran Thu 17-Feb-22 14:58:35

I would never buy candles as a present for people unless I know they loved them. One if my friends would be delighted to recieve one, and one would say Thankyou, but it would end up in a charity shop.
I also dont think candles are just for oldies, alot of young people like them too.

Eskay10 Thu 17-Feb-22 14:58:39

Not for me. - Since my friends house caught fire. Candle burned down to the pot pourri. Husband asleep and woke up when the fringe of the lampshade caught fire, leapt up the curtains and was out of control in no time. Put me off!

AreWeThereYet Thu 17-Feb-22 15:01:56

Blimey Esmay I think that would unnerve anyone!

CBBL Thu 17-Feb-22 15:56:27

I use wax melts, rather than scented candles - but not regularly.
These require tealighted (I use unscented ones) and the flame is not where it can cause a problem, since this is inside the wax burner.
Once in a while, these are a treat!

Grandmahigham Thu 17-Feb-22 16:07:42

I love candles,but also ,I am very,very fond of insence sticks.My sons comment that, I am reliving a hippy youth?

lovebeigecardigans1955 Thu 17-Feb-22 16:11:45

I never use candles. The idea of them is attractive and the candlesticks which go with them - but the danger of setting one's house on fire puts me off, plus I like to see what I'm doing.