I had to ban all candles in rental leases. Had nearly $2000 in soot damage at one, accomplished in only 10 months. Walls, floors, absorbed into the bath grout, vinyl window frames (never did get it all out of those), electrical outlets, carpet. Absolute nightmare. And my HVAC installer said it can mess up the circuit board.

We had to use Kilz primer to seal the walls and then topcoat. Washing only smeared it into a slickness ala wax paper and fire restoration sponges didn't help much.

It seems to me that candles shouldn't be lit in rooms that aren't being used. Doesn't anyone else worry about fire?

Beeswax is non-allergenic and is a natural air cleaner, recommended by the American Lung Association. It�s the best choice for asthma and allergy sufferers. Beeswax candles burn cleanly, don�t drip when properly used, and have long burn times, saving you money. Be sure that the candles you buy are 100% beeswax � some countries allow as little as 10% beeswax in candles labelled as �beeswax�. Even soy candles are not great: soy is not a wax, therefore it is treated in undesirable ways to make it a wax.

Also see http://smallbones.ca/blog/the-lowdown-on-fragrances-flavours/ for why fragrances often have undesirable affects.

Yes, the blog is mine & I've read the guidelines for posting. There are a couple of links to my website, but the blog is for education, not sales. I hope this is okay. I couldn't re-post the entire article here! :)

Thank you for all the informative and helpful comments. It got worse! After finishing the half bath I tackled a basement bedroom and bathroom. Fortunately I did not have to repaint but did do quite a bit of work removing the soot.

Saturday I bought beeswax candles for our nightly dinner by candlelight. I've sworn off all paraffin candles in our home due to all the information I've read here and elsewhere.

Thanks to all who took time to respond. I'd type more but my hands have not seen that much "hard work" in quite some time!

Poor Bannie!
When my painter cousin came to paint at our old house, he yelled at me about the soot from my Yankee Candles. He said to use soy as well...
To try and help with the problem, I also trim the wicks every time I light a candle & often times just use my tea warmer instead of burning the candles.
PS Hope the cruise was wonderful!!

I too have had the same issue! I just found out about 4 days ago and I burn nothing but yankee candles!! I had someone come check my heating and air unit thinking it was the culprit. But nope.....the first thing they said was do you burn candles? So after contacting my insurance company and 4 experts later....it was confirmed! I had soot damage allllll over my house from the soot of yankee candles! It got into my return air vent and then the soot got distributed allll over my home! My insurance company hired a fire and restoration company to come in take out all my clothes, shoes, linens, bedding, all my furniture down to my silverware and it all has to be professionally cleaned! They will have to repaint, put in new carpet and my house is a new house!! I am floored and devastated! Yes, I trim my wick EVERY time I use them. From what I have researched online this is a ongoing problem I see and Yankee candle will not respond to me. My friend and my boss posted on Facebook and the comments made by some I am guessing work for the company and does damage control. They refuse to research and investigate! I was told by the experts that while it USE to be rare....it is happening more and more now. When I found this site and read the first posted comment I knew I had to post on here. The ones on Facebook did nothing but accuse me of lying, scamming and trying to get my home remodeled! It is a new home!!! I will never ever EVER buy another yankee candle and I have told all my friends. We are letting others know as well, because apparently yankee candle does not care and refuses to even acknowledge there is a problem here. I was not out for insurance money because some insurance companies do not cover. Besides, I am not the one that gets the money, the company doing all the clean up is getting paid.....not me! Not sure if any of you are on Facebood but it would be great if you could go on their site and post that you too had the same issue. Maybe if they had enough people telling them there is a problem maybe they will finally listen. There really needs to be a warning label on the candles. They also sell at Wal-Mart a brand called Mystic Harbor. If you turn it over and read the label on the bottom it states.....A product of Yankee Candle!! Right now just starting the process and living in a hotel room the cost is $25,000.00 and they haven't even started yet. It is even in my refrigeration and microwave!! I am completely blown away!! What a nightmare and over candles that are so expensive to begin with to have it ruin your home like this....something really needs to be done! Thanks for reading my rant but I just had to get this out there! Have a blessed evening!

PS....and I also have to see Pulmonary Doctor to get my lungs checked because I have had a nagging cough for a while now and now I wonder if it is from breathing in all this soot!
I was unable to wash my walls or molding....it smeared! You can't use water on it.....you have to use a rubber like sponge, which of course I found out the hard way. But thanks to all of you that posted......now I know I am not losing my mind!

soot, etc.Here's an interesting article you need to read re:soot. It may very well have contributed to your cough.

I too like teeia have had soot damage to our home and have been told by an engineer who was sent in by our Ins Co. to evaluate the condition, said it was Yankee Candle. We thought that it was from the fireplace which we had to use on the highest output for heat when we lost power for 6 days. Now I don't know how to proceed with this. My husband is a lawyer so maybe we can do something with that as our Ins Co won't honor the claim. If anyone wants to contact me my email is.

joan1031@verizon.net

Thanks for reading.

Hey Joan!!
This is Teeia......we really need to talk!! I will send my number to you at your email address you have listed.....urgent!

It will not allow me to send you an email....I keep getting a error message????

Patty Cakes....no attachment for article....sorry just now got your message.

OMG. I did not know any of this about the candles. I was googling trying to find out why I have these dark shadows on my ceiling and walls. It is in every room of my house. I burn Yankee candles on a daily basis in 3 different areas. WOW!! This is an overwhelming mess. What do I tell my insurance company. Please help if you have any ideas.

What do you tell your insurance company? Nothing, because this isn't an insured casualty. It's a mess left by sooty candles. Clean it yourself, or pay someone else to clean it for you, but sorry, not everything is an insurance claim.

not so fast sjhockeyfan325.....MY insurance paid for everything!!! And don't be so quick to judge! You do not know how bad it was! You can NOT always clean it yourself! once it travels through all your air ducts and spreads all over the house it would be impossible to clean yourself! It was everywhere and even in my refrigerator and mircrowave...behind switchplates and electrical outlets. And I only burned 3 TOPS at a time during the Holidays!! and yes I always ALWAYS trimmed my wicks, they all burned evenly, no air drafts etc. So until you have been through it.....well it is best to just let people share THEIR experience so others do not have to deal with such a mess!! Thanks have a blessed day!

Sounds like you'd better join a class action suit.

is there one??

Teeia, I feel your pain. Unless you want your insurance premiums to skyrocket, or worse, you get dropped, paint the rooms and have someone come out and clean the ducts. Ins. companies have become notorious in punishing the homeowner when they file a claim.

I was a YC junkie, but I never got the soot. However, when I read they contain formaldehyde I stopped using them and now use Scentsy warmers. The scents are stronger than YC's. Plus you don't have to worry about a possible fire. I've seen a YC catch on fire all by itself. Scary.

true! I use them now too....I will never burn another candle I don't care who makes it....especially YC! I wish the clean up was that easy....its over 3,000 sq ft.....it would have cost me a fortune. Very valuable lesson learned for sure!

I am curious after reading about your soot teeia. How many candles and how often where you burning them that caused all this damage? I have never heard anything like this. ( I am also someone who can not stand to be in an area that sells, burns or uses scented things of any kind.)

only THREE!!!! there is someone else that was only burning 2 YC on their mantel and it got soot on their ceiling. I mean it wasn't like I was having a seance hahahaa! and it was only during the holiday!!! crazy.....but oh so true!

I haven't burned candles in probably 25 years because of this. I would simmer potpourri or buy those oil reeds. I discovered Scentsy about 6 years ago and have been a Scentsy junkie ever since! Today's scents are French Kiss and Simply Vanilla. Nothing is burned. Low temp. wax is melted. The melted wax isn't hot enough to harm anyone (kids or pets). I tried the WM stuff. YUCK! Headaches, sore throats, burning eyes. Scentsy wax is food grade and made with high quality ingredients. LOVE LOVE it! My home smells as pretty as it looks :) And no, I don't sell it :) Just a super-fan of the product! Those of you with soot issues, look around the edges of your carpet. My husband is a carpet installer. One thing used to see a lot is soot along the edges of carpet next to the walls. Maybe he still does, I just haven't heard him mention it in a long time.

I love burning candles in my home but started using soy based candles after noticing that the Yankee candles smoked so bad.

I don't understand the concept of burning a candle to make a room smell better. If a room smells, surely it just needs to be cleaned?

I like scents that smell like I am baking cookies or cakes. And no.....not baking hahahahaa!

Seriously, K? So I guess if you wear cologne or perfume, it must mean you need a shower?

Scenting a room has absolutely nothing to do with making a room smell "better," unless you cooked fish or something, it is to simply enjoy a scent.

Yes, seriously, Oak, really--------I think most burned candles give houses a fake smell regardless of the scent. I love Thymes Frazier Fir candles but don't light them. You get a nice whiff of the evergreen every now and then if you are sitting right by them but when they are burned they don't smell the same. Nor does every other candle I have smelled burning in someone else's house. (For actual candlelight I use unscented Root candles. And fwiw I think it's a bit naive to light something on fire and think there won't be at least some soot.)

I love the way a burning candle looks and I too burn candles because I enjoy the scents, particularly in the fall. I don't burn them to make my house smell better because I keep a very clean house. I think it's just a personal thing.

I've switched to battery powered candles after almost burning down my apartment with a tipped over real candle, not to mention health concerns of all these aromatic "air fresheners" etc. that are full of chemicals.

health concerns of aromatic candles....

Lead is usually the cause of soot from a candle wick. I thought this was an interesring article:

http://www.lead.org.au/lanv7n4/L74-4.html

Hi I've been making my own candles for about a year now. I know yankee candles uses paraffin wax, and I've never used them before so I can't speak on their soot output. I always trim my wick by just twisting them with my fingers. When I first light a candle I put my hand over the flame, and if I see soot on my palm I extinguish it right away and shorten the wick further. I had soot in my house once, and it was because I didn't trim the wick back. Also, lead wicks have been banned for quite some time. I hope these tips work! Cleaning soot is not fun.

I have not read responses since bonnieann note of Dec 3 2011 but offer note that beeswax candles do not spot up walls

So funny that this topic came up today. I lit my first candle, last night, in probably 15 years. For about 8 years I've been using Scentsy. Before that I'd melt wax in a potpourri warmer or nothing. This was a decorative glass candle and just on a whim, I lit it. About an hour later I started a coughing fit that lasted an hour or longer, even after I blew it out. And I've never been one to be sensitive to fragrances. Won't make that mistake again!

I am sensitive to chemical fragrances. I just recently bought an electric warmer because I like the scent of candles, and I fill the top with water and a few drops of essential oils, they don't bother me and there are a lot of nice scents. I don't know if they lose their aromatherapy value but I just like the scents so it doesn't matter to me. I know they make diffusers, but I have carpet where I use the electric warmer and the diffuser might put out a vapor that would fall on the carpet.

Just think what it is leaving in your lungs... Most candles are a chemical mess...

i just went through thus too!!! I just repainted nearly every room in my house because of this blackening. i knew candles had something to do with it but I kept telling my husband there must be something weing with our furnace. It never occurred to me that the soot ciuld be circulated through those ducts! My husband is going to enjoy a big ’I told you so’ and I am embarrassed that I didn’t realize the health risk. No more candles here. Thanks for the information

Hey Peg!

I will tell you, painting over it will not get rid of it. You have to literally clean every wall. They sell the cleaning sponges at Lowe's. Check your appliances too....yup got in my refrig, microwave...it was every where. If it got in your air vents you will have to have them cleaned ...it was a NIGHTMARE! I have not burned a candle since....not even birthday cake candles hahaha! I don't care what anyone says after that nightmare...I don't care what the candles are made of....never ever again. Glad you caught it. After $70K damage, then my insurance company dropped me. All over the soot candles emit into the air. Blessings!!

I used the Behr Marquee paint which is supposedly guaranteed too cover it... I knew it was soot but I thought it was coming from our woodstove or pellet furnace. My husband said he didn't think it was possible but replaced the gasket on the woodstove door to be sure. It's taken me a month to repaint ceilings and walls (I am between jobs so had the time to do it) and so far, the first room I did - my bathroom where I nearly always had a candle burning - so far, no sign of the stain coming through. I haven't seen anything in my microwave, but now that you mention it... there is some small areas that I assumed were graying from gaskets. Ugh! I think it is awful that they don't put a warning on candles since they obviously know this is happening!!!

Teeia,
I feel so bad for you!
I had the exact same thing that you’re talking about happened to us too! Its been more than a nightmare! But the difference is our issue came from an air purifier, figure that one out! I got it as a Christmas gift for my husband last year. I only used it for a couple weeks, I turned on the ionizer part of it on for three days.

When taking down the Christmas decorations, my husband asked me what is this black stuff all over the mantle? In our bedroom we have electric fireplace and on the mantle I placed artificial greens. When he lifted them up underneath in the areas where the greens were not was all stained black. He tried wiping it with Dawn and hot water but wouldn’t come off. He then tried bleach which got a little bit of it off. So long story short he got it off pretty good and that was that. I’ve been ill for a few years so I’m kind of bedridden and I was walking over to my side window to open it up one day when I noticed all over the window frame was this black stuff all over the walls was this black stuff, I had porcelain dolls on top of a high chest and their heads were up against the wall when I moved them out the wall was clear but all around and the wall was black. Just like you when I move picture frames you saw all around that Frame was black and with the frame picture it was was a fresh clean while. I just had my room painted a year ago, my family did all these things to pretty it up for me which was very expensive…bedding and draperies etc. which turned out to be covered with soot.

Process of illumination let us to this Homedics four and one air purifier. There was no if answer butts that’s the only place that had a come from I did not have candles in the room even though I am a Yankee candle fan because of my sinuses I never burn them in the our room or upstairs.

I called the company and they immediately sent me to their insurance company. The woman I spoke to was shocked to see the pictures I sent her. To be honest I still at this point which was two weeks later didn’t have a clue on the extent of how bad the damages were meaning how many places the soot was in my house. Like you we have forced air heat etc. so it went all through the ductwork…. But we really didn’t see anything down there so it was mostly the upstairs. Of course Homedics looked over the machine and said they saw nothing wrong with their machine. We are thinking it had to do with the negative ions the machine puts out mixing with strong positive ions on the room. We really can’t figure it out but no doubt on our minds that it came from the air purifier.

We didn’t have the vents cleaned. We had to have all the walls wiped down inch by inch with those special blocks you used. Then all was repainted.
We had to replace all things soft that absorbed the soot like mattresses. My insurance adjuster was great but before we even painted rooms we got our quarterly bill which showed we increased $125 a 1/4.

To know I was breathing that stuff in, with how ill I am already that really upsets me. People don’t know that this can happen. Homedics mentions a black dust which is easy to wipe off may happen in a heavily soiled room. My room is immaculate and this was soot no little bit of wipeable dust!

I learned from the guy that came to test the air quality that candles does the same exact thing! I have a closet which has two shelves of Yankee candles. 😞 I only but them when they have the buy on get one free, then I stock up!

Sorry to hear about your nightmare I can totally relate!! I’ve tried to attached a few pics of our nightmare here but for some reason it wouldn’t work.
I’ll try to post this again and see if they will work them. This nightmare started in January and I’m still working on it!!!

So add air purifiers with ionizers on your list do not bring on your home!!😉

Oh that is horrible! Soot is sooo hard to clean. Mind was totally Yankee candles ugh....I have not burned a candle since. My house is spotless, I am OCD so I know the difference between soot and dust hahaha! Sorry you endure that nightmare. It's horrible.

Has anyone ever commented broadly on social media? I feel like maybe they'd do something about this if people knew. Can you imagine how many houses have been badly damaged by this issue?!!

I love yankee candles and burn one every night from October through May when it gets too hot to have a flame in the room. I do notice that the 2 wick and 3 wick candles leave more soot than the single wick but I never heard of having to take all your clothes and bedding and silverware out of the house for it. I do notice soot build up on the wall behind where I burn a candle on my dresser but I just clean it off. Yes it does streak the first time so then I go over it with a clean damp paper towel and repeat if needed until the streaks are gone.

If it's on the wall near the candle then the candle is too close to the wall!! It should not be noticeable from one burn!!!

Yankee advises cut the wick down after every use. Funny i LOVE yankee candles and burn them all the time ive only noticed dark spots on ceiling thankfully nothing out of control.

Wish I had know this about Yankie Candles before using them! I too have black

Soot throughout kitchen and dining room!!!!

it's a nightmare. I haven't burned a candle since. You have to have everything professionally cleaned, primed and painted again. Even your furniture. If it got into your return air vent....you are screwed. Sorry this happened to you.

I didn't burn a candle for over a year after I had to paint all of my ceilings and most of my walls. Also around the gaskets in my refrigerator and around my doors. It was crazy. Now I'll burn one sometimes but only in a baffled lantern. I wish people knew this ... it really makes a huge mess.

Forgive my ignorance for not reading this thread (not my read) and seeing previous comments if anyone stated this before, but if you do enjoy candles try soy candles. Regular wax burning candles (Yankee being one of them) leek potential hazardous fumes and chemicals that can be carcinogenic (no sourced article here but there are several sourced medical journals with this study). I would stay from candles all together and use artificial ones for that glow, or mood lights, aromatherapy oils are fine too. 

Soy candles if you really want candles. Keep the wick short no matter the brand, dont let it burn for more than a couple hours at most, immediately cover the candle with the topper or a plate after done using it. It exhausts the fire, preventing any stains on walls. And keep it in the middle of the room you're using it in.

It could be worse.

By clean candles only - try this brand “cannawondernj.com” they are organic soy and promote the use of clean formulated aromatic essentials. Trimming is still required and not exceeding 3-4 hrs burn time is recommended also never blow candles out as it creates more soot- use a snuffer.