Our taper candles are judged to be dripless in normal burning circumstances. All taper candles will drip if exposed to a draft, burned too close to one another, or if the wick is permitted to become too long so that the flame becomes over-sized. If the candles will be used for a special occasion in a public space, such as a wedding reception, check for potential sources of drafts, such as from heating ducts, before choosing the style and placement of the candles. If drafts cannot be avoided, consider using votive candles, floating candles or hurricanes where the flame can be protected by the container from cross-drafts. Premium priced taper candles often have a special final over-dip of high melting point wax that serves to reduce dripping, but this is of little help in strong drafts.

If a taper candle begins to drip, the loss of melted wax can cause additional wick to become exposed, thereby feeding the flame so as to increase the rate of dripping. This is of special concern with larger diameter candles, such as our Root Collenettes, due to the volume of wax available to drip. If a candle begins to drip, extinguish it long enough to cool, then, if necessary, trim the wick to about 1/4” before re-lighting. A “dancing” flame is often the first sign of a draft, and smoking and dripping are likely to follow.

Candelabras that hold multiple candles must keep the individual candles separated enough so that the heat from one does not cause the neighboring candle to lose the side of the well holding its pool of melted wax. It is also important for candles to remain vertical in order to avoid dripping.

Dripping can also result if the candle is burned in an unusually warm circumstance, such as inside a hurricane where the heat of the flame becomes concentrated. In choosing a hurricane, the design should permit cool air to enter at the bottom and freely vent at the top, thereby reducing heat build-up.

Bobeche, the glass rings available on our Website, help catch minor drips from taper candles, but please take additional precautions to protect surfaces just in case a candle begins to drip before being noticed. Spilt wax is time consuming to remove, the dye can stain tabletops and fabric, and a dripping candle can release soot.

Our premium Colonial of Cape Cod and Mole Hollow taper candles burn a little slower than do our Economy tapers, and are marginally more drip-resistant. Of course, their biggest feature is there hand-dipped appearance and depth of color.

In case you have not noticed, we use “taper” to describe a class of candles that do not all have a taper. Within that class are molded candles approximating the diameter of traditional taper candles, usually from 1/4 to 1-1/2 inches. Larger diameters are usually described as pillar or column candles.