Thread: Candles and wind

Does anyone know if it is true that candles can/do reduce odours in a room? If so, how?

Originally Posted by sunshinewarrior

Does anyone know if it is true that candles can/do reduce odours in a room? If so, how?

I was once told that burning candle reduces the smell of tobacco if you are a smoker.

But a flame burns oxygen, so it's not going to burn other gasses or substance.

I mean if you think about it, if a candle burns the oxygen in a room surely the smell would become more concentrated?

I doubt if it’s very effective at all. You can mask an odor with another odor, such as burning incense to mask the smell of pot (but you wouldn’t be doing that ) or you can incinerate the odor causing agents. A candle flame might be hot enough (just) to incinerate organic odoriferants but I doubt if a single candle would produce a noticeable effect.

Originally Posted by Bunbury

I doubt if it’s very effective at all. You can mask an odor with another odor, such as burning incense to mask the smell of pot (but you wouldn’t be doing that ) or you can incinerate the odor causing agents. A candle flame might be hot enough (just) to incinerate organic odoriferants but I doubt if a single candle would produce a noticeable effect.

That's what I thought.

And, of course, I wouldn't be lookng to mask the smell of pot.

Originally Posted by sunshinewarrior

And, of course, I wouldn't be lookng to mask the smell of pot.

Pass me that Camberwell carrot!

It depends what smells and what chemical or gases it's composed of.

Have you ever lit a (I'm going to try to be ladylike now, but i'm afraid i'm not very good at it!) 'bottom-burp'?


Don't stand too near that candle, a friend of mine was hospitalized for 3 days when he did!

I'd think that the CO2 that the fire would create would eventually over power the odor, if the candle burned for long enough.

My fiancee and I have recently started using candles to neutralize odors. We find them to be much more effective than any other means we've tried (various aerosols, assiduous cleaning) aside from opening the windows in the warm weather. I have no idea what the mechanism is, but it works!