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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is soy wax?
A: Soy wax is the better known name for hydrogenated soybean oil. Oil is extracted from the soybean, and is then subject to a process know as hydrogenation, to raise the melting point and make it solid at room temperature.
Q: What is a "wickless" candle?
A: A wickless candle, also sometimes called a flameless candle, works basically like an air freshener. It is a candle jar filled with scented wax. You put the jar on a warming unit, and when the wax heats up and melts, it releases the fragrance into the room. If there is a glass scene inside, such as in an Appearing Scene wickless candle , then the scene will be revealed as the wax melts, because wax becomes clear when melted. It takes between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours for all of the wax to melt, depending on how warm the room is. When you turn off the warming base, the candle will slowly become solid again. A wickless candle is much safer than a regular candle, because there is no flame to risk starting a fire. Wickless candles also have better scent "throwing" ability than regular candles, because all of the scented wax melts, as opposed to just a small pool on the top of the candle. Plus, additional fragrance oil can be added to a melted wickless candle when the scent begins to fade. This makes a wickless candle an awesome value, because it can last for a very long time.
Q: Are wickless candles safe around children and pets?
A: A wickless candle is safer than a candle with a wick, because there is no risk of fire. Spilling is still a risk of wickless candles, or any candle placed on a candle warmer. Soy wax can be cleaned up with soap and hot water but would be very difficult to remove from carpet. The wax can get very warm to the touch, but not hot enough to cause a burn. Soy wax itself is non-toxic, but the fragrance oils our candles contain, while present only in very small quantities, could make a child or pet sick if ingested. It is recommended that direct supervision of children be maintained around wickless candles. All candles should be placed on a shelf or surface high enough to be out of the reach of children and pets.
Q: So how can I clean soy wax out of carpet?
A:
1. If wax is still soft, remove as much as possible by hand with a paper towel. If it has already hardened. Scrape up as much as you can with a putty knife.
2. Lay several layers of paper towels over the spot, and go over the top with a heated iron. This will cause the paper to absorb the melted wax. Repeat this step as many times as needed.
3. Clean area with hot, soapy water or a conventional carpet cleaner to remove any last traces of wax.
Q: Are your candles organic?
A: Our candle wax is not made from organic soybeans. Almost all of the soy wax in the United States is made by just four companies, Golden Foods, Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, and Bunge. None of them process organic soy oil into candle wax. We share the concerns of consumers, because pesticides and fungicides used on growing soybeans can affect the environment, as well as be transferred to the candle they ultimately become. Unfortunately, we have not found a supplier of organic soy wax. Still we believe that using soy wax (albeit non-organic), as opposed to paraffin wax is a good step in the right direction towards a healthier environment for all.
Q: Can I buy Thumbwick Candles locally?
A: Currently there are no brick and mortar stores that carry Thumbwick Candles. You may check out our Events page to find out where and when we will have a booth at certain Wisconsin craft fairs.
Q: Can I get a sample of your soy candles?
A: While we do occasionally have promotional sample give-aways of our candles, it is cost-prohibitive to ship free samples to everyone who makes a request. We have single tea lights available for purchase on our website, to sample our fragrances. You may also subscribe to our e-mail Newsletter. One lucky member will win a free 6 oz. soy tin candle every month.
Q: How do you choose your monthly newsletter free candle winner?
A: We use a randomly generated number chosen from the total number of current newsletter subscribers. If it happens to be a duplicate of a previous winner, we use the second number generated in the series. We obtain the random number from www.random.org .
Q: What does natural, unscented soy wax smell like?
A: Unscented soy wax does not have a fragrance while burning or melting. Soy wax itself does have a faint smell. It smells like non-dairy coffee creamer. And, if you look at the list of ingredients on non-dairy creamer, you will understand why: partially hydrogenated soybean oil is one of the main ingredients.
Q: I signed up for your email newsletter, why don't I receive it?
A: This problem happens often with AOL subscribers, but can happen with other ISP spam blocking programs as well. A certain word in the newsletter may have triggered your email to be refused, or you may have set up Junk Mail Blocking. If your email is refused and returned to us, this will cause your email address to be removed from the list. Try doing the following:
- Add info@thumbwickcandles.com and news@thumbwickcandles.com to your address book or list of allowed senders. (This helps your email server know that this is something you want to receive.)
- Check your bulk mail or junk mail folder. Your emails may have been redirected there by your mail program. If you find our newsletter there, there should be a button to click that says "This is not Spam". Please select this.
Our newsletter is distributed in January, March, May, July, September and November. If you did not receive a newsletter in any of those months, it means that your email was refused and returned to us, in which case your email address has been removed from our mailing list. Oftentimes even the email that informs you that you have been added to our email newsletter mailing list is refused. If you do not receive this notice after signing up, you can assume that your email address has been removed from our mailing list. In either case you will have to add our email address to your list of allowed senders, and re-subscribe to our newsletter list. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes.
Q: Do you sell wholesale?
A: No, we have made the decision to not sell our products wholesale. We chose to cut out the middleman and sell directly to the consumer, so that we can set a price that makes our products a little luxury that virtually anyone can afford and enjoy. Since we are a small company who makes all our products by hand, we cannot save manufacturing costs by buying materials in mass quantities like the big companies do. We have set our prices as low as we can afford while still making a profit. We also do not offer large quantity discounts, because we don't have the capacity to handle orders of very large quanties.
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