The flicker of candles creates such a cozy, welcoming glow for holiday gatherings in your home. But without proper precautions for all those open flames, the smoke and soot output can create quite a cleaning mess in your home’s air ducts.
As much as we try to keep those holiday candles all neatly contained in glass jars or holders, inevitably wax melts down the sides, wicks bend and blacken, and smoke wafts up to ceilings and vents. Multiplied by the numerous candles often lit all over the house during holiday parties, that can mean a pretty thick layer of candle residue literally coating your HVAC system.
The small sooty particles easily get pulled into any return ducts and distributed throughout your home’s air supply. The wax particles cling to the sides of metal ducts, and the smoke chemicals linger to create some very unpleasant scents (burnt wax anyone?).
To help mitigate the indoor air pollution from all your special occasion candles, follow these handy tips:
- Trim wicks to 1⁄4 inch before lighting to reduce smoke output
- Use candles shorter in height to lessen blowback soot
- Extinguish candles if wicks bend and smoke increases
- Move grouped candles away from the direct air duct line of fire
- Switch to LED candles in problem areas prone to residue build-up
- Use rigorous vent fans cautiously to not spread contamination pre-cleaning
One of the best ways to deal with the aftermath is to call in the pros! Have your air ducts professionally cleaned right after your seasonal celebrations are over. Specialized equipment and commercial-grade cleaning solutions make fast work of eliminating all that holiday candle residue. And your home air will smell as fresh as the season!
Don’t let lingering candle smoke spoil your holiday hospitality. With some smart preventative steps and post-holiday cleaning, you can protect your home’s air quality all season long. Contact us today to schedule economical and efficient air duct cleaning guaranteed to remove every trace of that candle soot and smoke!