Soot, soot everywhere

[mercer1194]

I have become a little concerned about my soy candles.  I put one in my bathroom a couple weeks ago and the commode was covered in black stuff.  I cleaned it up and thought surely that is not from my candle which was several feet from the white porcelain.  Then I put another one in the same are yesterday.  Different scent, different wick.  Well lo and behold the white porcelain was again covered in black smut.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I see evidence of the black soot sometimes in the air vents.  When my air conditioner man came recently to change my filters he said I can tell you burn candles.  You have soot in your filters.  Ok here is the nitty gritty on this.  I probably burn a candle no more than 4 or 5 hours a week in total.  I am concerned now because I don't want the soot on my wall hanging/paintings and large portraits of family.  Then today I noticed the carpet in the threshold of a bedroom that I rarely use and keep the door closed.  A black line was in the area under the door.  I love making candles and I do sell them on a limited basis also.  Is anyone else noticing this and should I be concerned.  If I have this much soot from my limited candle burning imagine what folks that burn them all the time have.  I will say my place is very open and light so I can probably see it better than people that may not have all the windows and bright natural light that I have.

[whitnick]

Do you have gas heat? I have similar black lines on my carpet in the doorways and was told it was from my gas furnace, water heater and fireplace. Something about carbon soot from the pilot lights. Candle soot can do that too but with as little as you burn them I wouldn't think it was from that. Here is an article about it:

 

http://www.homeenergy.org/show/article/id/1360

[Vicky_CO]

I agree with whitnick. You limited burn is not cause that much soot. That kind of soot would all over your jars they would be black. Candle get that blame for soot in a lot of cases the soot is from another source.

[nursenancy]

I agree.

[moonshine]

I wouldn't think it could be your soy candles-unless you have something crazy going on with your wicking, do they snap and pop when you light them?

 

I have had some soot to where you see it on the jar but never anywhere else in the house-  not even when I burn them below a mirror, generally the soot from soy is clear also when wicked properly

[chuck_35550]

Does the soot only appear in your bathroom whenever you have a lit candle in it? Soy first grabbed a hold of the candle industry because the soot was white and not as detectable as paraffin (or so I've been told) and then the whole natural movement took over from  there. Combustion will always leave a bi-product, no matter how hard you try to defy that reality. Mushrooms on the wick are evidence enough that your candle is sooting the air but the awful truth is that anything burning is emitting particles into the air along with fragrance molecules, gases and unknown elements that have not been identified either in the formulation of the wax or the fragrance oil. If you want to protect your wall hangings and pictures you will need to stop cooking food in the house, burning candles, exhaling carbon dioxide and stop using gas heat. You might want to consider wickless.  HTH

 

Steve