Put Out the Smoke: The Right Way to Extinguish a Candle

Put Out the Smoke: The Right Way to Extinguish a Candle

Picture this: You’ve just enjoyed hours of a gorgeous, beautifully scented candle filling your living room. It’s time for bed, so you lean over and blow out the flame as hard as you can.

Suddenly, a thick plume of gray smoke fills the air, accompanied by a harsh, burning-wick smell that instantly ruins the serene ambiance you just spent hours cultivating.

Sound familiar? Blowing out candles is a deeply ingrained habit, but it’s actually a major candle-care mistake. Here is why you should switch methods, and what to do instead.

Why Blowing Out Your Candle is Problematic

When you blow out a candle, you force a rush of oxygen directly at the glowing wick embers while abruptly cutting off the flame. This causes the hot cotton core to smolder, releasing unburned carbon particles into the air. That’s where that unpleasant, smoky odor comes from! Furthermore, that small burst of air can disturb the melted wax around the wick and potentially send tiny droplets of hot wax on your furniture or wall.

Better Ways to Extinguish Your Flame

Professional candle makers and enthusiasts use alternative methods to put out candles cleanly and silently:

  1. The Dipper Method: Using a specialized wick dipper (or a small metal tool), gently push the burning wick down into the pool of liquid wax for a second, and then pull it back up straight. The wax instantly extinguishes the flame with zero smoke or odor, and coating the wick in wax actually primes it perfectly for your next lighting!

  2. The Snuffer: A bell snuffer cuts off the oxygen supply to the flame gently from above, smothering it cleanly without blowing soot around or disturbing the liquid wax pool.

Extinguishing a candle can be part of the experience too. Instead of blowing out the moment, try snuffing it out deliberately.
A little less drama.
A little more ritual.
And, most importantly, a little more control over what happens to that hot wax and flame. Browse our selection of curated candle accessories to complete your clean-burn setup.

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