# Why should I snuff my candles, rather than blow them out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899 "2005-12-31T23:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/21 "2006-01-02T18:10:12Z")
Ok, dumb question here: How exactly does blowing on a candle extinguish it? Are you cooling the wick below the combustion point more than you are oxygenating it with an increased air flow? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/22 "2006-01-02T18:31:25Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Ok, dumb question here: How exactly does blowing on a candle extinguish it? Are you cooling the wick below the combustion point more than you are oxygenating it with an increased air flow? You are cooling the wax, and or creating a too lean for burning situation and the candle goes out. Too much air in the air fuel mixture = no fire. Need heat, fuel, air, and and an uninterrupted chemical reaction. Some fire supression materials like halons interfere with the chemical reaction, water cools and denies air when applied in volume. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/23 "2006-01-02T20:35:23Z")
I’m surprised nobody’s come in yet to shout the Partylite party line yet. I recently went to a candle party hosted by a friend, and they were big on snuffing versus blowing. Their website doesn’t really have technical stuff, but here you go: > [@](#): > > Use a snuffer to extinguish candle flames. This will prevent wax from spattering, and also keep the candle wick centered.\* So as others have mentioned it’s a wax blowing everywhere issue. But there’s also the issue of keeping the wick in the right place so your candle burns evenly. But I suspect they say that more to get you to buy a snuffer more than anything else. 😉 - From [http://www.partylite.us/detail/lang\_us/page\_care/sectName\_products/subSect\_care/detail\_candlecare.htm](http://www.partylite.us/detail/lang_us/page_care/sectName_products/subSect_care/detail_candlecare.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/24 "2006-01-02T23:11:39Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Sit a plastic bag of ice on it for a few minutes and you should be able to pop it off with the edge of a knife almost instantly. Not a chance. The blobs of wax were on top of heavily polished wood. I used card so as to not scratch the polished surface. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/25 "2006-01-02T23:25:47Z")
Bernoulli’s principle, air pressure decreases as velocity increases. Good call, **StarvingButStrong**. I was taught to always cup my hand. Except for the dinner table, when we used the snuffer for extra elegance. It’s mainly a matter of style, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/26 "2006-01-03T00:43:34Z")
> [@Gary T](#): > > You got a cite for that? I would think that blowing it out deprives the flame of oxygen. There’s a significant amount of carbon dioxide in your breath. But still dwarfed by the amount of remaining oxygen. Otherwise blowing on a glowing tinder to start a fire without matches wouldn’t work. And mouth to mouth resuscitation would be a bit of a killer. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/27 "2006-01-03T01:13:29Z")
I thought it over and I doubt Bernoulli’s principle does it. The winds that whip forest fires into rapidly growing conflagrations have lower pressure than still air, but still deliver plenty of oxygen to grow the flames. I always wondered at the apparent contradiction between blowing _out_ a candle flame but blowing _hotter_ a forest fire. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/28 "2006-01-03T19:14:58Z")
On a different note, many neo-pagans say to snuff out candles rather than blowing them out to show respect for the elements of fire and air. As in, you should not use one element to extinguish another. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/29 "2006-01-03T19:33:10Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > On a different note, many neo-pagans say to snuff out candles rather than blowing them out to show respect for the elements of fire and air. As in, you should not use one element to extinguish another. So, suffocating an element in it’s own waste products until it dies is respectful? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/30 "2006-01-03T20:46:46Z")
Actually, the prefered method, from what I’ve read, is to let the candle burn itself out. If that’s not an option, snuffing is the #2 method. I didn’t say I agreed or disagreed, just that this is what I’ve heard from others. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/31 "2006-01-03T21:20:20Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Have you last two posters ever heard of a blow dryer? Blow dry wax, wipe off. Or get Ralph Machio to do it for free. Tell him it’s “training”. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/32 "2006-01-03T21:27:24Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > So, suffocating an element in it’s own waste products until it dies is respectful? :dubious: I’ve always heard that it was more spirtual than that: as flame has a spirit, you don’t want to offend it by blowing it way. By snuffing, you keep it in the room with you, respectful-like. Still doesn’t answer the drowning-in-excrement problem. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/33 "2006-01-04T03:37:21Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > I’ve always heard that it was more spirtual than that: as flame has a spirit, you don’t want to offend it by blowing it way. I once bought some incense made in India, and the instructions on it requested the user to wave the flame out rather than blow it out. I didn’t see any practical difference in the method, as either seemed as likely as the other to release sparks. It reminds me of Zoroastrianism, though, in which fire is pure and sacred, and must not be defiled by the breath. Zoroastrian priests wear veils over their mouths to avoid blowing on the sacred fire. Maybe it was a Parsi incense company. (Parsis are the Zoroastrians community of India.) ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/34 "2006-01-04T15:50:53Z")
My dad has been teaching us that the best way to extinguish a candle without blowing the wax all over is to hold up your index finger in front of the wick and then blow on the flame around your finger. Seems to work really good, and we don’t get the wax splatter… ---
**Author:** ![Greebo\_Ogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19adc/32.png) [@Greebo\_Ogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greebo_Ogg)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899/35 "2006-01-04T16:18:50Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Actually, the prefered method, from what I’ve read, is to let the candle burn itself out. If that’s not an option, snuffing is the #2 method. I didn’t say I agreed or disagreed, just that this is what I’ve heard from others. 😉 As a neo-pagan (yeah, I’m one of those) I have found most pagans prefer to let a candle burn itself out, with snuffing as indeed a second option. But it also depends on the purpose of the candle. If a candle is used in a ritual you are supposed to use it only for said ritual, and then let it burn out. If that is not possible (because you don’t want to leave the candle unattended) then the preffered method is snuffing. Blowing it out is considered disrespectful for the element of fire. The candle is not to be used for another ritual, and is disposed of in a respectful manner. (Either burrying of melting it down. Some people use them as “casual” candles) On “casual” candles (a.i. for lighting) the opinions differ. I myself will always snuf a candle, because of habit. But I am know to give the occasional blow. I know some hardcore (Fundi)Wiccans that would be horrified to read this though… :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-snuff-my-candles-rather-than-blow-them-out/337899.md?page=1)