2021 was the hottest summer on record.
Climate change is having well-documented impacts on human activities—including how our candles fare in transit in the summer! At the peak of that record 2021 summer, we estimated that 2% of our shipments to neighboring states arrived melted. Meanwhile, around 8% of our shipments to the hottest states, like Texas and Arizona, arrived melted.
We have since added new measures which have reduced these numbers, and performed elaborate ceremonies to alter the Earth’s orbit around the sun and keep summer temperatures manageable. 🕺😉
If you were with us in 2022, you likely saw our efforts to launch our own wax, after seven long years of R&D. The main goal of those efforts was (and still is) to create the first direct trade, transparent, organic and fair trade certified wax for scented candles. The cherry on top is going to be a much higher melt point. Our current wax burns beautifully and boasts impressive scent throw, but it has a very low melt point, which makes it more prone to melting under intense heat.
Our new wax will eliminate that concern, but we’re still months away from being ready to launch it.
In the meantime, I’d like to share a couple elements of how we manage summer candle melts:
- As part of our commitments to leading with love and working for the long term, we’ll always make things right with you if you receive a melted candle. Just email us at thelab@keapbk.com if that happens.
- One of the most effective ways to reduce melts during the summer has been for us to monitor the weather and occasionally wait for temperatures to cool down before shipping. In some instances, this may lead to longer shipping times. If you are buying a candle as a gift or for a time-sensitive occasion, it’s worth checking our shipping status page or getting in touch by email/chat. We can often make special arrangements to meet your needs.
Is there anything else you would like to know about how we manage hot summer temperatures? Or about our new wax development? Did you know that when candles say “100% Soy wax blend” it actually means that they contain both “100% Soy wax” and petroleum-derived paraffin?
There’s a lot more behind the proverbial wax curtain, so let me know what you’re curious about.
Here’s to a great summer of laughter, dancing, communing, and warm but not scorching temperatures! 😛
– Harry from Keap, Steward-Owner
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In other news:
- Cotton Magnolia is our scent of the month for another week. It doesn’t look like we’ll have a lot left over after we ship our subscriptions, so if you are desperate for it, consider joining the Seasonal subscription before month’s end (you can always skip until 2024 if you’re just a die-hard Cotton Mag fan).
- Just around the corner: Waves is our Seasonal scent for June, and I am personally so excited for the studio to be once again enveloped in its cool, marine disposition.
- In case you missed it, we’re closing for our annual summer break to recharge from 6/10 to 6/26. We won’t be shipping during those dates and subscriber shipments that usually fall on those days will ship the week before and after the break. We want to make sure you feel taken care of, so if you have any questions please shoot us an email.
- Sadly, our friendly neighbors (and Wood Cabin burners) at Chleo Wine Bar suffered a fire which has forced them to temporarily close. It’s been a tough moment for a new but already beloved local neighborhood spot. Besides calling out their GoFundMe—since I am convinced they will rise back like a phoenix imminently—let this be an opportunity to add them to your list of great restaurants/wine bars to check out in the Hudson Valley.
- Our other friends and neighbors at Field + Supply are helping coordinate a silent auction for the New York Farmland Access Fund. That fund is an amazing project to permanently protect and transition farmland to a diverse new generation of farmers. There are so many ways it aligns with our vision—if nothing else, there is a great deal to be had on a Keap gift subscription!
- In case you missed it last week, see what our community said about how they use their preview tealight.
