Watch what goes into every candle we make

As much as we’d love to spend every second of the day outside, occasionally we need to step indoors (for example, to do our jobs). So we decided to create our line of Out-of-Doors Candles & Enamel Mug Candles, which are specifically scented to echo the outdoors even when you happen to be cooped up inside. And since we’re sure you have a lot of burning questions (sorry) about how we select our scents and what exactly we mean by “hand pouring,” we watched a vat of wax transform into dozens of delicious-smelling candles — and don’t worry, we made a video so you could watch it too.

How We Select Our Scents

Our goal with our candle collection was to capture our favorite scents from nature: We wanted our Surf scent to smell like casting off the coast and our Tioga Woods candle to make you feel like you’re hiking in a cedar-filled forest. Yes, it may be tough to sniff fragrances until you find one that smells *exactly* like freshly chopped lumber, but somebody’s gotta do it.

What Goes Into Each Candle

Our candles are hand poured in our hometown of Philadelphia using American-made materials, including soy wax, cotton wicks, and recycled paper packaging. We opted for soy wax since it’s biodegradable and burns clean — a plus if you’re prone to allergies.

How Hand Pouring Works

Hand pouring is strangely soothing to watch, sort of like watching a scientist or a skilled chef at work. Once we got past the fact that the metal clips that hold cotton wicks in place are called bow ties just because they look like bow ties, we couldn’t help but be impressed by the precision that went into each step. (The exact temperatures the wax is held at, the mental counting that goes into each even pour, the fact that each label is signed by hand.) Check out the video below to see each step — we’re only sorry we couldn’t capture the intoxicating smell of freshly scented soy wax.

How to Recycle Your Candle

We used to be bummed when our candles burned through, then we realized we could re-use the containers to store stuff at our desk and re-fill with snacks. (We also decided to make enamel mug candles so we could use ‘em for coffee later.) Here’s how to clean out the wax so you can reuse or recycle your glass container or enamel mug:

• Very carefully fill the glass container with boiling water (stop just short of the lip)
• Allow the glass container to soak. Wax will float to the surface and harden as it cools
• Once wax has hardened, remove it from your glass container
• Wash away any remaining wax with soapy water