Re using birthday candles

[mammmamia]

Aibu to use them more than once? Have seen lots of people pulling them out of the cake and chucking them once they’ve been blown out. This just didn’t occur to me. Don’t people use them again if they’ve only burned for a minute?

I take them out of the cake and clean the bottom to get the cake off then use them again. If they’re small ones with the little candle holders I clean the holders.
Or this unhygienic? Is life too short or is it right to reuse these things?

What sort of a maniac throws away once used candles?! I might get a specific number yearly, but other than that, we have a selection of some stubby and some not so stubby candles.

I re-use them. Who throws them out? I honestly don’t know anyone that does this!

I’ve always reused them!

I was always told it's bad luck to re-use Birthday cake candles so they get binned 😳 I know it's wasteful but I can't shake the whole "bad luck" thing. 🤷‍♀️

I reuse them!
Mind you, my 2 year old had about 3 'turns' at blowing out the candles on my cake so we will probably need to buy more for the next birthday

Yes! I thought this was normal. But then it occurred to me that it wasn’t hygenic to stick candles in cream for example and then re use them in another cake 3 months later. But maybe I’m mad.

My mum always kept them and so do I. Even the number ones as they'll be useful at some point!

Always keep them and re-use

@mammmamia / use the holders they come with then they don’t touch the cream

I have reused them.

Though those ones that spell out “happy birthday” burn and melt at lightning speed so I guess it wouldn’t work with them. Bought them for DH’s birthday last year and there was wax melting everywhere before I had the last one lit!

I've got some birthday cake candles that are literally years old. I wash them between uses of course. Some of them are tiny at this stage.

Of course you reuse them. Definitely normal.

Several years ago when it was my mums birthday the only candles I could find were the number ones of 1 and 2. So I asked her if she wanted to be 12 or 21 that year.

I have birthday candles that have been used loads of times. Kids are impatient and blow them out quickly
It has never occurred to me to wash them.

I keep them, infact I have reused single digit number candles again when my two hit their teens and beyond.

We used the 4 from DH's 40th last year for DS's 4th last weekend.

Whether it had been cleaned particularly well or not I couldn't tell you.

We reuse them. We have a cupboard full of part burned number candles and just get the appropriate one/ones out every year. Very wasteful to just chuck them!

I use them until they are done or they snap, even then I'll just stick the top half in sometimes.

I have many years worth of candles, brought out each year for the birthday boy/girl to choose from. My xmas cake decorations are over
35 years old. No waste in this household!

I always re-use them, in particular we have two 8s from my late father's 88th birthday, one came out for DS 8th birthday, then again for his 18th.

We may get to use both for my 88th.

We also still use the candle holders that we got for DS first Birthday.

YANBU to reuse them obviously, but I don’t think I ever have. 😬 Theres usually so much going on on birthdays that they just get thrown out in the clear up I guess. Normally I think I’m pretty good at making sure I reuse things where possible.

The birthday banners always get thrown away as well and I end up buying the every birthday. Must try harder. 😬

I even reuse the numbered ones 🙈

as the second digit of my husbands age is the same as the age my eldest turns a few weeks later and the second digit on my age is the age my second turns a few weeks prior to mine so we get 2 uses out of each candle

@ChickLitLover How about buying a fabric one? I have a multicoloured fabric one that gets brought out for every birthday. It cost me about a tenner 3 years ago so I’ve already got my money’s worth from it. I also have Happy Christmas and Happy Easter.

Why wouldn't you use candles again if they're in good condition? There's too much of a tendency to throw things away these days.