Every week we receive a few messages with the same content. Are scented candles harmful, can they be burned in a home with small children, is it all right to burn one every evening. We think this question deserves an unhurried answer, both with what can be measured and with what we do not yet have in hand.
First, the materials. ZUNGZA candles are made from soy wax we blend ourselves, with a full cotton wick and essential oils we compose. The wax keeps its own natural colour, so the jar you open is a pale ivory with no colouring at all. Those are three things you can check by eye and by hand the moment you open the lid.
On documentation, we currently hold a business registration certificate, a fire safety certificate and a set of export documents including CO and CQ. Product testing is on our roadmap, expected during 2026, and when we have the results we will update this page. As for questions belonging to health, especially for anyone with a respiratory condition or women who are pregnant, we think you should ask a doctor rather than a candle seller.
The part you decide more than we do
There is one interesting thing every long-time candle maker knows. The same candle jar burned two ways in two homes will give two completely different results. The difference lies in the wick and in the air current in the room.
Leave the wick long and the flame runs tall, the wax melts faster than the fragrance can release, and the incompletely burned wick tip gives off black smoke marks that settle on the wall of the cup. Trim the wick to about five millimetres before each burn and the flame is small, neat, and burns far more cleanly. Just one movement before lighting, and the whole evening is different.
The same goes for air current. A room shut completely for four hours grows heavy in the air, whether or not you burn a candle. We still advise leaving the room a light path for changing air, a window crack is enough, and then burning the candle for about one to four hours. For a room of about fifteen to twenty square metres, one candle jar is right, and the scent becomes clear after about fifteen minutes.
Homes with small children and pets
We always say the same thing to families with a baby or a cat. Choose the place before you open the lid of the candle jar. A high shelf, out of a child's reach and off a cat's usual jumping route, on a heat-resistant surface, an arm's length from curtains and papers. Burn it when someone is in the room, and put it out when you leave the room or before going to sleep.
If your home makes such a place hard to find, the one hundred millilitre reed diffuser is the option needing no flame. One bottle holds the scent for a room for two to three months, and it only needs one fixed place on a high shelf.
A few questions you often send us
Is it all right to burn a candle every evening
It is, at a rhythm of one to four hours each time, with the wick trimmed before lighting and the room given a light path for changing air. One cinnamon bark jar of one hundred and twenty-five grams burns thirty-five to forty hours, so burning it two hours each evening it travels with you about three weeks.
Why does the candle cup have black marks
Almost always because the wick has been left long. Put the candle out, wait for it to cool, wipe the wall of the cup with a paper towel, trim the wick and light it again, and everything returns to normal.
Is it a problem if a candle is kept a long time before use
The shelf life is three years from the date of production. Keep the jar somewhere cool, out of direct sun, and close the lid with the cinnamon bark cup range.
If you would like to read more about materials and how to use them, we have written separately about how to light and how to keep, and you can see all the ranges on sale on the scented candles page or shop.