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As we talk about Wisco Home Goods and decisions that we need to make for the business, we strive to keep an eye on a few things. First among them is our responsibility to the planet. As a small company, we don't have as big of an impact on the planet as the mega-corporations do, but we believe that starting from a position of environmental mindfulness will help us keep this in focus as we grow. Some of the steps we take to make a smaller impact on the environment might surprise you. For instance, we recycle our packing peanuts. Yes, you read that correctly, somewhere in our basement right now there is at least one large box of packing peanuts we received as packing material from an order to one of our vendors. When we can, we use these to pack your purchase for shipping. In fact in the first 2 1/2 years we were in business, we didn't buy a single packing peanut. Also, the peanuts we do recycle are soy based and biodegradable. You can wash them down the sink. Also, we've been asked before, it's perfectly safe if your pet happens to eat one. That's how safe they are. Another decision we took deliberately was to craft our candles in recyclable Double Old Fashioned glasses. We're not sure how many people recycle our glasses, but we've certainly gotten a few questions about how to clean them out, so we thought we'd share. Once you've enjoyed the candle, no matter how hard you try there is always something left at the bottom of the glass. The good news is that cleaning the glass out is very easy. Here are three methods you can use. Oven Method
This is the one we use, because it's a natural part of our candle making process.
Set your oven to its lowest temperature setting. Ours is 170, but you really only need something above 100. The lower the temp the easier the cleaning process.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. If you want to minimize usage of foil, you can form it into a small bowl rather than lining the whole pan.
Place candle glass upside down on cookie sheet and place in the oven for at least 20 minutes.
Using potholders, remove the glass from the oven and add some dish soap to the glass. Add hot water and scrub with a scrubbie. I often find I need to repeat this process before I'm done.
Leave cookie sheet until the wax has cooled. Discard of foil.
To remove the label you can either soak in water and finish with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab, or we just run it through the dishwasher, which usually does the trick.
Sip and enjoy your favorite cocktail for years.
No Oven Method
Pour boiling water into your glass and let sit for a minute or two.
While this is happing create an aluminum foil bowl in a glass or other vessel
When the wax has all melted, pour the water/wax mixture into your aluminum foil bowl or into a non-recyclable container with a high melting point that you are discarding anyway, gas station coffee cups are great for this.
Using potholders add some dish soap to the glass. Add hot water and scrub with a scrubbie. I often find I need to repeat this process before I'm done.
Allow wax to cool before discarding.
To remove the label you can either soak in water and finish with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab, or we just run it through the dishwasher, which usually does the trick.
Sip and enjoy your favorite cocktail for years.
Microwave Method
Be sure to remove metal tab from the bottom of the glass.
Microwave glass for 30 seconds. If the wax hasn't completely melted do another 30 seconds.
Remove glass from microwave and place glass upside down on a paper towel lined saucer. Allow to drain for a few minutes.
Repeat steps 2 & 3 one more time.
Microwave glass for 30 more seconds.
Using potholders add some dish soap to the glass. Add hot water and scrub with a scrubbie. I often find I need to repeat this process before I'm done.
To remove the label you can either soak in water and finish with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab, or we just run it through the dishwasher, which usually does the trick.
Sip and enjoy your favorite cocktail for years.
We know we have a few loyal customers who save our candle jars as drinking glasses, and we encourage you to do the same. At the very least they make fancy glasses for drinks outside where you don't need to worry about whether or not they break. Enjoy!
