care and
questions

The first burn decides everything. Light it and leave it until the melted wax reaches the edge of the glass — usually two to three hours on a medium.

Wax has a memory. If you blow it out before the pool reaches the sides, it will burn down the middle for the rest of its life and you will lose about a third of it up the walls of the jar.

If yours has already tunnelled, it can usually be rescued — here is how.

Yes, and it is the thing almost everyone skips. Trim it back to about 5mm before every single burn, once the wax has set hard.

A long wick gives you a tall flickering flame, soot up the glass, and a candle that burns through far quicker than it should. Nail scissors are perfectly fine.

Four hours at a time, maximum. After that the glass gets hot, the wax overheats and the scent goes flat — you are burning through it without getting anything back.

Let it set and come back to it later.

Snuff it, or put the lid on. Blowing scatters the wax pool up the sides of the glass and sends a good lungful of smoke into the room.

Almost always one of two things: an untrimmed wick, or a draught. Move it away from the door, the window or the radiator, trim the wick right back, and wipe the glass with kitchen roll once it is completely cold.

Stop when there is about 5mm of wax left in the bottom. Below that the glass gets too hot, and there is not enough wax left to be worth it anyway.

Flip the reeds. Pull them out, turn them upside down, put them back in.

Once a fortnight is plenty. Flip them every day and you will get through the bottle in weeks rather than months.

About four months. Warm rooms, radiators and draughty hallways all speed it up — a cool still room makes it last noticeably longer.

Not directly on anything polished, painted or waxed. The oil will mark the finish if it drips or gets knocked, and it does not come out. A coaster or a tile underneath costs nothing.

Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from radiators. Wash your hands after handling the reeds, and keep it out of reach of children and pets — the oil is concentrated.

Never leave a burning candle unattended. Not for a minute, not to answer the door.

Keep it well away from anything that can catch — curtains, books, paper, dried flowers, greenery at Christmas.

Burn it on a heat-resistant surface, and leave 10cm between candles if you have more than one going.

Keep it out of reach of children and pets, and out of draughts.

Fill the jar with just-boiled water and leave it. The wax melts, floats to the top and sets there as a disc, and you can lift it straight out. Then wash the glass in hot soapy water.

Don't pour melted wax down the sink — it sets in the pipes.

Amber glass with a black lid is worth keeping. Brush pot, pencils, spare change, a very small plant, spices if you clean it properly. The glass is recyclable once it is clean if you would rather not.

Because it is between drops. I pour four times a year, in batches small enough that every one passes through my hands, and when a batch is gone it is gone until the next one.

The next drop opens on Friday 25 September at 9am — the morning before the harvest moon rises. Details are here.

Get on the list. You get in twenty four hours before everyone else — Thursday the 24th rather than Friday the 25th — which is often the difference between getting the one you wanted and reading sold out.

One email a month at most.

Yes, when the weather does. Harvest moon comes back for the moon it is named after, which is why this drop lands when it does. Old pine and and all things nice come round at Christmas.

The six core scents are there every drop.

I don't hold stock — I pour after the drop closes, to the orders that actually came in. So every drop has a single dispatch date, written on the product page before you buy and repeated in your order confirmation.

UK delivery is free, and you will get tracking by email when it goes.

Not at the moment — UK only. If you are overseas and really want one, email me and I will find out what postage would cost. I cannot promise it will be sensible.

Yes. You have 30 days from when it arrives, as long as it is unused and in its original packaging. Email me first and I will tell you where to send it.

If anything turns up broken or wrong, tell me straight away with a photograph and I will put it right.