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Craftsmanship & production

Hand-dipped, elegant quality candles made from the purest raw materials

All ester & erik candles are produced at our factory in Silkeborg, Denmark. Here, the entire production line is organised around the fact that two factors are key to producing well-performing candles: the quality of the raw materials and the final appearance of the candles.

Our candles are natural products made from wax, wick and dye of the highest quality – the same raw materials we have been using since the company was established in 1987. The candles are made from 100% paraffin wax of the purest quality available, which can be heated and used without the need to add any artificial ingredients. The wick is made of 100% pure cotton, while both the dyes and lacquers are water-based and therefore contain neither acetone nor aniline.



Traditional craftsmanship and modern technology

At ester & erik, the traditional candle-making craft is still central to production. However, today it is supplemented by a robot which can wick our dipping frames using exactly the same method as when the frames were wicked by hand. This has enabled us to keep up with demand and grow our export business.

To achieve exactly the right shape, a raw taper candle is dipped 24-25 times in warm paraffin wax depending on the time of year and the ambient room temperature, a process that takes 4-5 hours. After cooling down for 2 hours, the candle is coloured and possibly lacquered, and then allowed to dry again before hardening for 24 hours, after which it is packed and shipped to our customers. All our candles are carefully packed in FSC-certified packaging. Either directly on our iconic candle frames, or in boxes, where the candles are wrapped in tissue paper with extra foam protection between the lacquered candles to prevent scratching.

All our candles are quality-checked at every stage of the production process to ensure that the frame, wax, colour, lacquer and packaging meet our high quality requirements to ensure the perfect end-product.

This is the only way we can be the best at what we do.



Hand-coloured candles

To achieve the best-looking result when colouring a frame with up to 66 candles, we are keeping up our tradition of hand-dipping the candles in coloured wax.

Colouring by hand, you have a particular feel for the product throughout the entire process: When the raw frames arrive in the colouring section, we check that the raw candles are free from dirt, and have a completely smooth surface before they are re-dipped. Some colours bind more easily to the wax, which means that some candles need to be pulled up out of the colour bath faster than others. Only by using your hands can you produce the same high quality every time. ester & erik has developed an over-dipping wax which allows the colours to come into their own as the entire colour palette acquires a surface contrast that creates the vibrant look unique to our products.

Read more about the colours here
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