Forty jars at a time. Never more.
Ember & Oak is a two-person candle studio in a Hackney railway arch. Everything we sell was melted, poured, cured, labelled and boxed by the same hands — here’s how it works, and why we do it slowly.
How it started
A kitchen hob, a pan of wax, and one good scent
Ember & Oak started in 2019 on the hob of a Clapton flat, when Elin — an ex-chef who thinks in ingredients — couldn’t find a candle that smelled like a real fire instead of a spice rack. Eleven test batches later, Hearthside existed, the neighbours were asking for jars, and the kitchen was permanently 40°C.
Her brother Joe joined with a van and a spreadsheet, and in 2021 we took the keys to Studio 6 at Wickfield Works — a railway arch with room for one melter, one pour bench and a curing rack. That rack is the reason we pour forty jars at a time and no more: it’s what one person can watch, smell and reject without guessing.
Growing bigger would mean pouring blind. So instead of a factory, we bought a second curing rack and started taking jars back for refills. Slow is not a mood here — it’s the method.
- 2019First pour
- 40Jars per batch
- 14 daysEvery cure
- 6,000+Jars refilled
Small-batch process
Wax, pour, cure, label
Big fragrance houses pour thousands of units a shift. We pour what one person can watch, smell and reject — which is why every jar burns the same.
The wax
Pure soy, melted to exactly 70°C — no paraffin, no palm, no dyes. Fragrance goes in at 10%: high enough to fill a room, low enough to stay soft, never sharp.
The pour
Forty jars, one steel jug, one steady hand. Wicks are centred with wooden pegs and the wax goes in warm and slow, so it sets glass-smooth without sinkholes.
The cure
Every batch rests two weeks in the dark before it can leave. Curing binds fragrance into the wax so the scent lasts the whole burn, not just the first week.
The label
Wicks trimmed to 5 mm, batch number and initials inked on the base — you can see who signed yours — then wrapped in shredded pour-room offcuts and posted in plain kraft.
Why it matters: a rushed candle tunnels, soots the glass, and loses its scent halfway down. A cured one burns level to the last centimetre. If a batch smells even slightly off at the bench, it gets remelted into studio testers — it never ships.
Refills & sustainability
The jar comes back
Amber glass is too good to recycle after one burn. Ours are made to circle between your shelf and our pour bench for years.
Burn it to the base
Our jars are poured to finish clean — no wasted wax ring, no drowned wick. When the flame’s done, the jar’s just getting started.
Post it back, freepost
Every order includes a pre-paid return label. Drop the empty jar in any postbox — no cleaning needed, we handle the dewaxing.
£16, any scent
We refill, re-wick and re-cure your jar and send it home within five working days. Prefer to DIY? The home refill kit is £16 too.
The studio
Come and smell everything before you buy
Wickfield Works is a working pour room first and a shop second — which is exactly why it’s worth the trip.
Open studio, every Saturday
10:00–16:00 at Studio 6, Wickfield Works, 48 Tallow Lane, Hackney E8 2QT. No booking — walk in, smell all ten scents on the tester shelf, and if a pour is running you’ll see the whole thing from melter to bench.
Bring an empty jar and we’ll refill it while you wander London Fields; most are ready within the hour on quiet weeks.
Plan a visitThe seconds shelf
Wonky labels, off-centre wicks, colours that cured a shade dark — candles that burn perfectly but didn’t pass the mirror test. They sell from the studio at £12 a jar, first come, first served, Saturdays only.
Regulars arrive at ten. We’re not saying camp out; we’re saying the good misfits go by eleven.
Or shop the firsts