We get a lot of questions about our candles and the essential oils we use! Why they aren't as strongly scented as traditional candles, or what brand of essential oils do we use? Here are all the answers and for more info don't hesitate to reach out.
Questions About Our Candles & Melts
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We want you to have a great experience with your Fontana Candle so we are sharing tips we have discovered to create an optimal burn!
We have found that the optimal burn for our candles is achieved with a short wick. Our wicks burn best when they are trimmed to approximately 1/4." We recommend trimming the wick before every burn. No special tools are needed! This can be done by snapping the burnt ends off with your fingers.
If your flame gets larger than 1 ½”, please extinguish the candle and allow it to cool. Once your candle cools, you can trim your wick to approximately ¼” to ½”. Remove the wick trimmings before relighting your candle.
Because Fontana Candles are hand-made from natural ingredients, slight variations are to be expected. Beeswax expands and contracts, resulting in small cracks.
Always store your candle in a cool, dry place at room temperature and keep it away from direct sunlight and high humidity. Store your candle with the lid on.
The first time you burn your candle is extremely important: allow the candle to burn until the melted wax reaches the edge of the container. This should take between 2 and 3 hours in our 9 oz candle. Burning the candle this length of time will prevent the wax from tunneling on the side of the jar.
Limit your burn time to approximately 3 to 4 hours to prevent the candle jar and wax from overheating.Please do not touch the container while your candle is burning. As always, burn your candle on a flat, flame retardant surface and never leave it unattended.
If your wick becomes unstuck from the bottom of the jar or tin and travels to the edge, please stop burning it immediately. The jar can shatter if this occurs for too long. This typically occurs at the very end of the candle's burn.
We recommend burning our tins on a coaster, and not directly on your furniture. The tin lid makes a perfect coaster! Please read the Candle Warning label located on the bottom of the candle.
If your candle turns black it’s probably because it was burning in a direct draft, or it was burning for too long. Once it cools and hardens, the scorched wax can be wiped away with a rag or cloth.Discard your candle once ½ inch of wax is remaining in the jar to prevent the wax from overheating during the last burn.
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Because we purchase our essential oils in such large quantities, we do not purchase from brands that consumers are familiar with. We use the best natural ingredient suppliers in the United States, and purchase only unadulterated oils. We have documents on file for every essential oil that we use that proves their purity. Our suppliers are our proprietary business information, so we can't share their names, but to help win your trust that they are as clean as we claim, we have been the first candle to complete the stringent MADE SAFE® certification since 2019.
The MADE SAFE® seal confirms that a household product is free of any and all toxins known or suspected to harm human health, animals, or ecosystems. Certified goods have been thoroughly examined by researchers and scientists to ensure they’re made without known behavioral toxins, carcinogens, developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, heavy metals, neurotoxins, high risk pesticides, reproductive toxins, toxic solvents, or harmful VOCs.
MADE SAFE® additionally screens ingredients for bioaccumulation, environmental persistence, general ecosystem harm, as well as for toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial life. When there is doubt they exercise the precautionary principle, erring on the side of caution. The MADE SAFE® approach flips the current regulatory model of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ on its head. This 360-degree ecosystem assessment makes MADE SAFE® the most rigorous standard in existence.
To read more about our ingredients, we recommend heading over to the Ingredients page on our website: https://fontanacandlecompany.com/pages/ingredients
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We buy our beeswax from a global supplier that has a Beekeepers trained in best beekeeping practices. Sustainability and the health of the hive is of upmost concern to our supplier, because the best quality beeswax comes from healthy hives!
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Essential oils are extremely flammable so we are limited to how much oil we can use to scent our candles. Without the chemicals used in traditional fragrances, it is nearly impossible to make an essential oil candle that is as strong as a fragrance oil candle.
We do market all of our candles as "lightly scented" in relation to the strength of a traditional fragrance oil candle. We added the scent strength indicator to help establish a level of reference for the hot scent throw. Even our "strong" options will smell light in comparison to most fragrance candles. Our hope is the indicator will better assist customer's in selecting the scents that will best meet their expectations.
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Because we use natural ingredients and don’t add any chemical stabilizers to our wax, Fontana Candles are more prone to cracking than traditional (and toxic!) store-bought candles. Beeswax is especially prone to cracking, which is one of the reasons we add coconut oil to our wax mixture.
There are a number of different factors that can cause our candles to crack, including what scent the candle is, damage during shipping, and even the local weather!
During production, we carefully inspect each candle to make sure it meets our quality standards, including checking for any excessive cracking in the candle. We are sure to pick out any candles with deep, structural cracks that may affect the burn, and they are sold as discounted “imperfect seconds”. Any candles that make it through have surface-level, cosmetic cracking that will disappear the first time you light your candle!
Still not sure if your candle is defective? Email us - we’re happy to take a look!
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We believe what you breathe is just as important as what you eat when it comes to your health. Because we use only the simplest and purest ingredients, we are proud to know exactly what we are selling.
We are proud to be the first MadeSafe certified candle since 2019! The MADE SAFE® seal confirms that a household product is free of any and all toxins known or suspected to harm human health, animals, or ecosystems. Certified goods have been thoroughly examined by researchers and scientists to ensure they’re made without known behavioral toxins, carcinogens, developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, heavy metals, neurotoxins, high risk pesticides, reproductive toxins, toxic solvents, or harmful VOCs.
MADE SAFE® additionally screens ingredients for bioaccumulation, environmental persistence, general ecosystem harm, as well as for toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial life. When there is doubt they exercise the precautionary principle, erring on the side of caution. The MADE SAFE® approach flips the current regulatory model of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ on its head. This 360-degree ecosystem assessment makes MADE SAFE® the most rigorous standard in existence.
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We often get asked for scent recommendations, which can be tricky since scent is such a personal preference! Sometimes it takes a little trial and error to find your favorite scent.
We highly recommend taking our Scent Preference Quiz!
We also recommend you take these notes into consideration:
+ Familiar Scents: Consider the type of scents you know you like and dislike. You can compare them to the oil scents listed with each candle.
+ Scent Strengths: Our Scent Strength Indicator was designed to help establish a level of reference for the hot scent throw to better assist customer's in selecting the scents that will best meet their expectations. The scent strength can be found on the "Scent" tab of each product.
We do market all of our candles as "lightly scented" in relation to the strength of a traditional fragrance oil candle. Even our "moderate" and "strong" options will smell light in comparison to most fragrance candles.
+ Product Size: Consider purchasing the smaller of our candles (Mini Candles) until you know which scents you prefer.
+ Scent Samplers: Consider our scent sampler bundles as they allow you to purchase several scents at a discounted rate which allows you to experience a variety of our scents!
+ Refunds & Exchange Policy: The last piece of information you may find helpful is that we do not offer refunds. All sales are final. However, we want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase, so we offer exchanges for store credit.
Used candles and opened oils, cannot be returned or refunded, except in case of product defect. Product defect does not include strength of scent of the product. We clearly state that our products are lightly scented and should not be expected to fill a room with scent.
Our full return & refund policy can be viewed here. We hope this helps!
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We love our fur babies here at Fontana, and we are proud that our candles are safe for pets. The concentrations of oils in the candles and wax melts are low enough that they do not cause issues.
However, please ensure that your pet is not able to ingest our products.
We also recommend allowing your pet to freely leave the space where you are burning/diffusing essential oil-based products.
For more information about this topic, please read our blog post "Are Essential Oils Safe for Your Pets?"
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Because we do not use any preservatives in our candles, we highly suggest a shelf life of about a year. The candle itself will not expire, but the burn quality does degrade after a year. We only guarantee the burn of a candle up to a year, based on the date of your purchase.
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Please recycle or reuse your jars and tins once you are done burning your candle! We are currently not able to process them for reuse, but we have seen them repurposed in many different ways!
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We offer a one year guarantee against any defects that affect the burn of your candle! Your date of order starts your one year guarantee. Please email a photo of your defective candle, clearly showing your wick, to customer@fontanacandlecandlecompany.com so we can take care of you! Please remember we do not guarantee that you will love the scent of your candle though.
Questions About Our Ingredients
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Making non-toxic products is at the heart of our mission, but affordability of our products is also part of our mission. We do not want clean candles to be inaccessible to those who
want them. Organic ingredients typically come with hefty price tags.Organic beeswax is double the price of non-organic beeswax.
We did a cost-benefit analysis when deciding if we wanted to use all certified organic ingredients in our products.
The term "organic" is unregulated when it comes to beeswax, and almost unnecessary when it comes to coconut oil, due to the refinement process.
Learn more in our blog article here
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Yes! We do not use animal-testing at any stage of our product development processes, and we are certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny!
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Our Spray & Renew Home Spray Collection, our Soap & Renew Bar Soap Collection, and our Soak & Renew Bath Soak Collection are all vegan.
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We do recommend a shelf life of a year for our non-candle products.
Questions About Orders & Shipping
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Our Lancaster Headquarters is not open to the public, as it is our office, manufacturing, and fulfillment hub. We wish we could offer retail, but it is prohibited in our lease.
If you want us to open a local retail location, shoot us an email and let us know!
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Promotion codes are only valid on individual products - they cannot be used on purchases that include gift sets, bundles or scent samplers as those products have already been discounted. Accessories and Gift card purchases are also not eligible for discount codes.
If you wish to use a promotional code when you are also purchasing a gift set, bundle or scent sampler, you will have to split your order into two separate transactions to allow the system to register both discounts individually.
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We understand that no one likes to pay for shipping! This is why we always offer free shipping for orders $70 and over shipping to the contiguous United States! This is basically a sale all the time!
Candles are heavy items, and we ship all items with ice packs in the summer. If you live in an extremely warm climate, we will ship with an ice pack year round! The shipping charge helps us make sure we can get our candles to you in tip top shape!
Please note that orders shipping to Canada do not qualify for our shipping promotions.
*To qualify for free shipping, the subtotal for your order must meet the minimum requirements after all coupon codes and discounts are applied.
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The website will automatically trigger free shipping when your subtotal with any coupon codes and discounts is $70 and over! If it does not, please email us at customer@fontanacandlecompany.com with your order number. We will get your shipping refunded for you!
*Orders shipping to Canada are not eligible for shipping promotions.
**Gift card purchases do not apply towards the minimum requirements for shipping promotions.
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Currently we are only able to ship to the contiguous United States and Canada.
Canadian Orders:
*Orders shipping to Canada are not eligible for free shipping promotions.
**Any customs fee or additional duties that may incur are the responsibility of the receiver. Fontana Candle Co. is not responsible for any damages that occur as a result of packages being held by customs for extended periods.
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As of 7/13/2023 Fontana Candle Company is no longer offering Route Package Protection.
If your package was marked as delivered, but you haven't received it, we ask that you please wait 3 business days before reaching out to us.
Many times when this happens, the package is still on the delivery truck, or it was dropped off at the wrong address. If your package does not arrive three days after being marked as delivered, please email us at customer@fontanacandlecompany.com and we will make sure you get your order.
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As of 7/13/2023 Fontana Candle Company is no longer offering Route Package Protection.
If your package was marked as delivered, but you haven't received it, we ask that you please wait 3 business days before reaching out to us.
Many times when this happens, the package is still on the delivery truck, or it was dropped off at the wrong address. If your package does not arrive three days after being marked as delivered, please email us at customer@fontanacandlecompany.com and we will make sure you get your order.
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Gift messages can be added to your order by clicking on the shopping bag icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Please add your gift message to the "Order note" section in the lower left-hand corner. The gift message will print on the packing slip as a gift note. Our packing slips do not contain any pricing or discount information.
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When we ship from Fontana HQ, we use packing peanuts. The peanuts that we use are both made and purchased locally in our town. They are Biodegradable Packing Peanuts and are made from industrial-grade corn and potato starch produced in the USA. You can go ahead and test them out yourself by placing a few in your sink under some running water!
Sustainability and protecting the environment are very important to us.
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To minimize mistakes and errors, we are not able to edit your order after it has been placed. We are only able to cancel your order if our team has not begun processing it for shipment.
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As with many other small businesses, we can not afford to offer a complete satisfaction guaranteed refund policy. We have learned over the years that sense of smell is very subjective, and although we really want to, we can’t make everyone happy.
Re:do is the best solution we found to help cover some of the costs of returns and exchanges for our customers. All of our Returns & Exchange policies are in place; however, when the customer adds Re:Do at checkout for $1.98, there is a 30-day window for the customer to initiate their return or exchange. Re:Do then creates a return label, free of charge to the customer. This saves our customers anywhere from $7 to $15 on average. If Re:Do is not selected at checkout, and the customer wishes to make an exchange per our policies, the customer is responsible for obtaining and paying for their return label.
If your candle is defective or damaged in shipping, please let us know and we will make it right!
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Re:do is the best solution we found to help cover some of the costs of returns and exchanges for our customers. All of our Returns & Exchange policies are in place; however, when the customer adds Re:Do at checkout for $1.98, there is a 30-day window for the customer to initiate their return or exchange. Re:Do then creates a return label, free of charge to the customer. This saves our customers anywhere from $7 to $15 on average. If Re:Do is not selected at checkout, and the customer wishes to make an exchange per our policies, the customer is responsible for obtaining and paying for their return label.
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To start a Return or Exchange with Re:Do, please go to their portal: https://fontanacandleco.myshopify.com/apps/redo/returns-portal
All of our Return & Exchange policies are in place. We do not accept Returns & Exchanges on lit candles, or opened bath soaks, essential oils, or room sprays.
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Get your home scenting staples on repeat with our subscriptions! Never run out of your favorite Fontana products again. You can swap, pause, or cancel anytime.
How it works:
Select your favorite products, and the frequency you would like to receive them!
Get 10% off for subscribing!
Want to switch scents for the seasons? No problem! You can swap, pause, or cancel anytime!
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If you purchased from Amazon, you must complete your returns through Amazon. We are not able to assist you with your Amazon orders through our Customer Care Team.
However, our Customer Care Team is always happy to assist you with any burning instructions or candle care needs!
Subscriptions
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You can access your customer portal through your store account login. If you have not registered an account, you will need to create an account using the same email address used at checkout.
Once your account is registered, you can log in and access your customer portal by clicking on the Manage Subscriptions link.
You can also access your account using a direct link to the customer portal. This link is normally sent in the Subscription Confirmation email when you begin a subscription and the Upcoming Order email
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The process to update billing will vary depending on the configuration of the store's platform (Shopify or PayPal).
Recharge Checkout on Shopify:
To update payment information:
Login to the customer portal.
Click the Payment Methods tab.
Click Add new payment method and enter the payment method details.
Click the Subscriptions tab and click Edit on the subscription to be updated.
Expand the Shipping and Billing section and click Use this shipping and billing pair to select the new payment method.
Return to the Payment Methods tab, expand the old payment method and click Remove payment method.
PayPal Checkout :
If you used PayPal as your payment gateway, you may be able to edit the payment method in your PayPal settings. Otherwise, you need to cancel the subscription and start a new subscription via checkout.
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Update shipping address for a specific subscription
You can update the shipping address for a specific subscription:
1. Login to your customer portal.
2. Click on Subscription and scroll down to Shipping Address.
4. Click the arrow to expand.
5. Select one of the other shipping addresses.
Note: This only affects the shipping/delivery address, this does not update billing information related to the method of payment.
Update an existing shipping address
You can update existing shipping addresses from the Shipping tab:
1. Login to your customer portal.
2. Click on Shipping. This will display all shipping addresses on your customer account.
3. Click the link on a specific address will allow you to update it as needed or click on the Add Address button to add an address.
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Log in to your customer portal to skip a delivery.
1. Click the Delivery Schedule tab to see all upcoming deliveries for your subscriptions.
2. Click Skip next to the delivery you would like to skip. If you want to unskip a delivery, click Unskip next to the order.
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Login to your customer portal to adjust the order date:
1. Click Subscriptions and then click on Edit.
2. You will be taken to a page where you can edit the next order date for your subscription.
3. Once you select the new charge date you can click on the Update next shipment date.
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One-time products can be added to your subscription order. Login to your customer portal to add products:
1. Click the Subscriptions tab and select Edit next to the subscription you want to add a product to.
2. Hover over the product you want to add and select add one-time. This automatically adds the product to your shipment.
You can also add one-time products using the Add a Product button on the Subscriptions tab.
To manage or delete a one-time product:
1. Click the Delivery schedule tab.
2. Select Manage add-on.
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In order to cancel your subscription, you will first need to log in to your account.
1. Login to your customer portal.
2. Click Subscriptions and Edit.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Cancel Subscription. If required provide a cancellation reason and confirm the cancellation by clicking Proceed.
Private Label & Collaborations
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We offer a select number of private label projects a year. Please email eric@fontanacandlecompany.com for more information.
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If you would like to chat with us about collabs, please email customer@fontanacandlecompany.com with your social handles and any media kits you have.
Our affiliate program is now active on ShareASale! Please follow the link to apply: ShareASale Application
More information about ShareASale
Our Policies
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We offer a one year guarantee against any defects that affect the burn of your candle! Your date of order starts your one year guarantee. Please email a photo of your defective candle, clearly showing your wick, to customer@fontanacandlecandlecompany.com so we can take care of you! Please remember we do not guarantee that you will love the scent of your candle though.
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Our Return & Refund policy details the requirements and options for returns, refunds and exchanges.
View our Return & Refund policy here
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Important information and expectations regarding online orders that require shipping (Shipping methods, processing & delivery times, package insurance).
View our Shipping policy here
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Welcome to our Fontana Candle Company. Please review the following terms and conditions of use, which govern your use of our website. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use the Site.
View our Terms of Service here
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This Privacy Policy describes how Fontana Candle Company collects, uses, and discloses your Personal Information when you visit or make a purchase from the Site.
View our Privacy policy here
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Residents of California have additional rights to privacy. Click here to learn more
