Delivery, Returns, Candle Care & F.A.Q.
UK Delivery
We deliver via Royal Mail Tracked 24 - Delivery cost £4.45.
We post most days using our local Post Office.
Please note backordered candles may take a over week to get to you as we have to make and cure them.
If you wish to pick up your order please choose in person pick up.
International Delivery
We're unable to ship outside the UK due to excessive costs.
Returns
If for any reason you're not happy with your order we offer 14 day no fuss returns. Just email us with the issue and we'll make it right.
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Candle Care
In order to get the most from your Darent Candle with hours of lovely fragrance and relaxing light there are a few tips on how to burn candles, use and maintenance you should follow :
Lighting your Candle
Choose a well ventilated and level area for the soy wax candle but ensure it’s not sitting in a draught, as that’ll make the wick burn hotter, cause flickering and excessive wax burn. Depending on the candle allow between 2 and 4 hours burn time on first use to fully melt the wax to the sides of the glass (i.e. a full wax pool). On the first and subsequent burns extinguish reasonably soon after a full wax pool has been achieved to avoid the flame getting too large. Burn times vary with room temperature, airflow, the time of year and room size. Wood Wicks need to trimmed short. They tend to burn a bit hotter than cotton wicks so you may get to full burn pool sooner.
Mid Burn
Your candle may start to mushroom near to full pool developing. If this happens use a wick dipper tool to hook off the mushroom. Carefully dispose of the piece of mushroomed wick as it will be hot for a short time. If the wick bends to one side causing an uneven wax pool use the wick dipper to straighten the wick. You won't have any straightening or mushrooming issues with wood wicks.
At the End of the Burn
After extinguishing the flame and once the wax has cooled the wick should be trimmed to 3-4mm. Use a pair of wick trimmers is you have some to ensure you get a nice clean burn next time you light up. Ensure no wick trimmings or bits of matches are left in the burn pool. When your candle gets low on wax stop using it. You don’t want to burn down to the glass as that might cause cracking.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why Darent Candles?
Our candle store brand name has gone through a few changes. My husband's first suggestion was Dog Bowl Candles as we used an old dog water bowl to collect wax and practice making our first candles. Our beloved late chocolate lab Becky wouldn't have been pleased to see her bowl covered in wax. That name was quickly relegated to the idea scrap heap and we chose Kentish Candles, however there is a Kent Candle Company and we didn't want our products to be confused with any other firm's efforts. We love going for walks along the Darent river in Kent and visiting the pubs on it's banks in Eynsford and Farningham, and 'Darent' meaning 'Clear Water' has a tenuous connection with the pure soy candles we produce.
Q. What about your testing process?
We found out early on that there's a fair bit of candle science to learn. Every new scent requires weeks (maybe months) of testing. A new fragrance oil is a mixture of natural ingredients to be added to a natural wax product which has batch variances of it's own. That means a new scent will need a certain type of wick to achieve a good burn pool, with a good scent throw whilst not being sooty or having a flame that's too big. There are hundreds of different types and sizes of wick and nearly as many variants for wood wicks. Experience gives us a rough idea of the wicks to try first, but there will always be six or seven test pours to perform. The volume of scent to add is another variable we need to test. We want there to be enough scent to give a subtle and pleasant effect on a reasonable sized room, but we don't want the scent to be so overpowering you have to wear a spacesuit to watch Coronation Street. Every test pour candle needs to cure for at least a week to allow the oil to fully bond with the wax. If they don't perform when burned it's back to the start of the testing process for that scent. All these variables take time to iron out. The quality of the product is the most important consideration for our fledgling business. Our aim is to provide you with a product you'll compare to that premium (i.e. expensive) candle you bought a while back and and decide our candles are just as good, if not better. Quality takes time. We promise you it'll be worth the wait.
Q. Why does my candle sweat?
Soy candles already have natural oil within them, so when candle makers add fragrance oil on top then excess oil can appear on the surface of the candle, usually before first burn. If your candle sweats then use a tissue to wipe up excess oil and burn as normal. If your candle sweats every time you burn it, this is often due to us putting too much oil in the candle. If we've used a tad more fragrance oil than is necessary we'd be grateful if you let us know so we can alter our formula slightly.
Q. Are you affiliated with any perfume companies?
The fragrance oil in the candles is produced by a number of suppliers, none of whom are affiliated with any designer fragrance companies. The oil we simply smells similar to the perfume.
A bit more on the Darent River :
The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford. 'Darenth' is frequently found in the spelling of the river's name in older books and maps, Bartholomew's "Canal's and River of England" being one example. Bartholomew's Gazetteer (1954) demonstrates that Darent means "clear water" and separately explains the other name. Considering the River Darent runs on a bed of chalk and its springs rise through chalk, this is not surprising. The original purity of the water was a major reason for the development of paper and pharmaceuticals in the area. Fed by springs from the Greensand Hills south of Westerham in Kent it flows 21 miles east then north by Otford and Shoreham, past the castle and the ruined Roman villa at Lullingstone then by Eynsford, Farningham, Horton Kirby, South Darenth, Sutton-at-Hone, Darenth and Dartford where it proceeds a final two miles as a tidal estuary until it drops into the Thames at Long Reach.