Scientist blasts Ecoya after candle explodes in home

An Auckland scientist says an expensive candle "exploded" on her kitchen table sending shards of glass across the room.

University of Auckland senior lecturer and NZ Herald columnist Dr Michelle "Nanogirl" Dickinson posted a picture of the remains of her candle on Twitter.

She wrote "My @ecoya candle just exploded sending shards of glass across the room! They obviously didn't consult a materials engineer when designing".

The tweet has prompted a response from the company who replied 'Hi there, it appears there isn't any wax in the jar? As per instructions, there must be wax in your candle (at last 10mm) (1/2)'.

But Dickinson wasn't impressed, replying "Dear tweeps - who reads the instructions on their candle? Surely you just light it? @ecoya your instructions imply poor engineered design".

She went on to tweet that Ecoya was "blaming customers for not reading instructions on candles, rather than accepting they have the wrong glass chemistry.

"Dear @ecoya how about I analyze your glass in my lab & explain to you how your candle instructions don't disguise your poor product design."

In a statement, an Ecoya spokesperson told the Herald they usually find in these instances, the candle has been burnt down to the very bottom of the glass vessel and continued to burn with very little to almost no wax remaining.

"As you can see from the image the customer tweeted, there is no wax in the vessel and no wax on the surrounding surface.

"The blowing out of any candle occurs when there is no wax to burn and the wick and metal wick holder are left to burn, exposing the base of the candle to extreme heat."

The spokesperson said it was the company's duty to supply a safe product to customers as well as providing them with the appropriate safety information.

"Therefore our safety instructions are included on the base of the carton, the base of the candle and on an insert at the top of the candle that needs to be physically removed in order to burn your candle.

"In these instructions, it states to discontinue burning your candle when you have 1cm or less of wax remaining."

Ecoya tips for candle care

• It is important to trim the wick of your candle every time you burn it.
• if the wick is not trimmed, the heat of the flame can surpass the wick crimping which is what extinguishes the candle.
• If the flame is too big because the wick has not been trimmed, then the flame will continue burning, often doubling/curling over, creating a bigger flame and therefore, more heat, which in turn burns through the wax quicker.
• If the candle is left to burn with a long wick and very little to almost no wax, it exposes the metal wick holder to extreme heat, which in turn heats the glass and eventually incidents like this one, can take place.

Read more at NZHerald.co.nz