Wax melts have become increasingly popular in UK households over the past few years, especially since the start of the pandemic when more and more people were at home.
These amazing, scented wax cubes or tarts release fragrance as they melt, providing a pleasant aroma in your home. And with so many scents and smells to choose from, there are hundreds, if not thousands of different types on the market, meaning you will be sure to be able to find something that is perfect for you.
What Are Wax Melts?
Wax melts, also sometimes called wax tarts, are small cubes or shapes made from a mixture of wax and fragrance oils. Common types of wax used include soy, paraffin, and vegetable-based waxes, but we would always recommend you only choose wax melts that contain natural wax, like Soy Wax or Coconut and Rapeseed wax, as these are much better for your health.
When heated, the wax melts, and the oils are released into the air to scent your home. Wax melts are heated and melted using a wax warmer or wax melt burner, a device that gently heats the wax to release its aroma and is available in both tea light candle and electric form, meaning that you can often find hundreds of amazing wax burners that will suit all tastes and requirements when it comes to design and style.
Are Wax Melts Safe for Home Use?
When used properly, wax melts are safe for home use. However, like any product that you are going to use in your home, you need to make sure that you use it in accordance with the company you brough them from, and this means following their advice and always checking the ingredients contained in the wax melt, which is added to the label or the CLP information for every wax melt.
This is a legal requirement, so only use a company that adheres to this and fully displays all the information that is legally required to sell wax melts in the UK.
Here are some extra tips for using wax melts safely:
Choose high-quality melts from reputable brands. Avoid cheap wax melts that may contain synthetics, dyes, or other chemicals you don't want released into your home's air. Sometimes going for the really cheap and cheerful wax melts is not always the best option, as the premium and often more expensive ones are generally made from natural wax and use far better-quality fragrance oils, two things you want to make sure of when it comes to melting these in your home.
Read and follow all label instructions carefully. Make sure you only use the recommended amount of wax in the first instance, otherwise if you go too big too soon, your wax burner may not be able to handle the amount of melted wax in terms of volume and you could end up with a big mess that you honestly want to avoid, as hot melted wax on your carpet or brand new coffee table is never something you need to be dealing with.
Keep wax melts out of reach of children and pets to avoid accidental ingestion or skin contact, which could cause injury. Like any product that contains ingredients, you need to be sensible with how you store your wax melts and avoid leaving them where your child or pet could get access to them and possibly eat them. Whilst most wax melts contain fragrance oils, some of them can be harmful to pets if ingested and of course you would never want your child to get hold of them either, so always store them away from any possible unwanted attention.
Never leave an in-use wax burner unattended. Turn your wax warmer off or blow out the candle when leaving the house or going to sleep. Whether you are using a tea light wax burner or an electric one, never, ever leave them unattended, make sure you always with them when they are burning and please, never use them as a method to get to sleep. Burners can sometimes catch fire or break, so you need to make sure you are always around when you are melting.
Make sure your wax warmer is on a heat-resistant surface and avoid placing it near flammable materials like curtains. This is really important as the wax burners can get hot and mark the surface or sometimes, they can have minor wax leakage, so you don’t want to find wax stained onto your table or on your carpet. We recommend using a little coffee mat or something similar just to protect your surfaces.
And finally, and REALLY IMPORTANTLY, discontinue use if you experience respiratory irritation, headaches, or allergic symptoms. If you get headaches or feel sick whilst melting, and this happens a few times over a period of usage (just to rule out other illnesses) then you need to stop burning the wax melt and try another scent.