Our happy little family consists of two parents, a child, and two dogs. When we started making candles, we wanted to make sure that our candles would be safe for the environment as well as for all the beings in our home as well as yours.
Burning anything, including candles, could produce toxic fumes. We try to mitigate that as much as possible, but we know not every candle company does this. We’re going to talk a little bit about pet safety in homes that have scented candles and/or wax melts.
Note: This was written regarding dogs and cats only. If you have any questions regarding your specific pet(s) and whether the scents you have in your home are safe, we highly recommend that you speak with your veterinarian.
Open Flames
For the safety of your pet and your loved ones, we don’t recommend keeping an open flame around your furry family members, especially unattended and within reach. Instead of a candle, try wax melts with a warmer with a long enough cord to keep them out of reach.
Wax warmers that plug directly into the wall could be well within reach of animals. If you prefer them, we suggest using an outlet that is above a counter and never leaving them unattended. Check out some of the wax warmers we love (the corded wax warmers are on the top row)!
Wax type
A lot of candles are made from paraffin wax. Paraffin is a by-product of the oil purification process. Because of this process, paraffin wax could contain trace amounts of carcinogens as well as other chemicals that can cause skin irritation or respiratory issues.
Though it takes a long time for these issues to appear in humans, smaller beings, such as animals, could feel the effects sooner. Because of this, we chose to use 100% soy wax in our candles. Bonus: candles with natural waxes like ours tend to burn slower (i.e. longer) than paraffin candles in most cases!
Wick type
“Burning candles with zinc or lead core wick may result in indoor air concentrations of lead above EPA-recommended thresholds.” Source: The EPA
Lead is bad. We’ve known this for a while. Lead wicks were even outlawed in 2003. However, just because they’re not legal doesn’t mean they aren’t used. The safest wick to burn around pets is one made of cotton or paper. All the wicks in our candles are cotton with a paper thread.
Fragrances
Most candles don’t have the ingredients of the fragrance listed on the packaging. Luckily, the site that we source our fragrances from has a safety data sheet.
We pour over each sheet before making a final selection and confirmed that none of the fragrances we use in our terranmade candles and scents contain the following:
Aldehydes (ex. Formaldehyde)
Amines
Benzene derivatives
Ethers
Essential Oils
I’m going to tread lightly on this topic as a large amount of people have very varying opinions on it. Essential oils are made from highly concentrated plant substances. While some essential oils do have benefits for dogs and cats, this doesn’t mean that all of them do.
One such oil is ylang ylang, which is used in our something beachy fragrance. HOWEVER, it’s toxicity to dogs and cats only comes into play when it’s 1. Not diluted and 2. Applied directly to or ingested by the animal.
Our fragrances are diluted by pouring them into the soy wax that we use and there’s no way, with proper use, that it could be applied directly to the animal’s skin. If skin contact or ingestion should happen accidentally, call your vet and poison control immediately.
something relaxing is a great scent to have around pets! It contains lavender, which is known for its calming effects, and is great for masking odors. If you don’t want to get the candle, we have it in wax melt form as well.
Conclusion
We love our animals as much as we love each other and would never want to put them in harm’s way. Because of this, terranmade uses:
Cotton and paper wicks
100% natural soy wax made some soybeans grown in the USA
Fragrances that, as of current documentation, contain safer chemicals than ones used in most traditional candles
Wax-diluted essential oils
Thank you so much for your support. We do and will continue to do our best to keep you and all the members of your family satisfied.
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