Candles are used in 7 out of 10 households in the United States. Us being one of those families. Not anymore though.
I have always LOVED the clean scent of candles and they way they our space smell. What I didn’t realize is how harmful they can be to you.
We recently had an small office built for me to work out of. I am in there around 10 hours a week and naturally, this was my own private space. Away from the husband and kids where I could work in peace and quiet. Of course decorating it was something I was so excited to do and the few hours a night I would be in there, I would light a candle.
The space is small but definitely the size of a small to medium size bedroom.
A few days later I noticed this black design almost on my blinds and at first thought it was the pattern in the blinds. The days would pass and it was getting progressively worse. In addition to that I started noticing my fingers were black and my desk had black fingerprints on it. The candles were not from the dollar store and were from a very large retailer.
Let me also point out I have NOT been sick in close to 8 years and just 2 weeks ago when I started noticing this, I got very sick.
Long story short, we realized it was the candle I was burning that was producing this “black soot” all over my entire office.
Once I started wiping things down we realized it was on the walls, my desk, containers I was storing items in and even my door! Thankfully nothing was damaged but it took us close to 24 hours to wipe everything down. The image above was the water we were rinsing the sponge out with that we wiped the walls down with. This wasn’t even the part that bothered me the most. It was the fact that I was breathing this in. The fact that when I have candles lit inside my home , my CHILDREN are breathing this in. 🙁
Thank God we noticed it after only a few days and it was only the walls and blinds that were soaking up the soot since this is where the candle was burning.
Regardless, I will not be using candles anymore and just wanted to share my experience. I know there are “safe” candles you can use , all natural SOY candles as well which is what I usually burn in my home. The bottom line is the fact that I am breathing this soot in and could be in my lungs is bothersome.
Below is a screenshot of the blinds and what they looked like after burning the candle for ONE night. They were new blinds that were just put up and 2 days later this is what they looked like. 🙁
I do love the scents these candles emit but my health is more important. I have looked into Scentsy and have a warmer from them I purchased last year that I will be breaking out again and also purchasing another one for my office now.
Since the wax is warmed and not burned as with traditional candles, no harmful chemicals or pollutants are released into the air. With Scentsy, there is no flame, smoke, soot or lead. Scentsy Bars do not contain or release harmful phthalates.
This will be what I will only be using now for the future. 🙂
If you have a friend that Sells Scentsy , I highly recommend grabbing a really cute burner from them and use this instead of candles.
If you do not know anyone , I went ahead and asked a member of my group that sells it to share her link for everyone.
Go HERE to see what Scentsy is all about and what they have to offer. You will have until December 9th to purchase through her link this way you can get your goodies before the holidays.
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