- 01
Three units, never one
A single candle tells you about that candle. We test three units from the same production run so we can report the spread between them. If the spread is wide, that is the finding, and we publish it.
- 02
Four hour sessions
Each session runs four hours, which is the longest most makers recommend and the point where a full melt pool has formed. We weigh each unit before and after on a scale accurate to a tenth of a gram, and record consumption per hour.
- 03
Burn time is calculated, not guessed
Measured burn time is the usable wax weight divided by the average consumption rate. We state it alongside the manufacturer's number so you can see the gap, in either direction.
- 04
Throw is rated at fixed distances
Scent throw is subjective, so we constrain it: the same room, the same three distances, rated by the same person, with the candle unlabelled. It is an opinion with a fixed procedure, and we describe it that way rather than as a measurement.
- 05
What we will not do
We do not publish a figure we did not take, we do not average across production runs, and we do not quote a manufacturer's burn time as if it were ours. Where a page shows a stated number rather than a measured one, it says so on the page.