Are Essential Oil Candles Safe Around Pets and Children?

Your home should be a sanctuary for everyone in it — including the four-legged members of the family. So, it’s completely understandable that one of the most frequent questions we receive is whether our essential oil products are safe to use around pets and children.

The short answer is that our products are designed to be enjoyed in a normal home environment. But because we believe in transparency, not reassuring platitudes, let’s look at this properly.

Essential Oils and Pets: What the Science Says

Certain essential oils can be harmful to cats and dogs if ingested or applied directly to their skin in concentrated form. Cats are particularly sensitive because they lack a specific liver enzyme (glucuronyl transferase) that helps metabolise certain compounds found in essential oils, particularly phenols and monoterpene hydrocarbons.

Oils most commonly flagged as problematic for cats include tea tree, eucalyptus, peppermint, citrus oils, and pine. For dogs, the risk profile is lower, but similar caution applies to tea tree and pennyroyal in particular which is toxic to both pets and humans. Please note this list is not exhaustive and you should speak to you vet for specific advice around the use of essential oils around your pets.

However — and this is the crucial point — the concern relates primarily to direct, concentrated exposure: undiluted oil applied to skin, ingestion, or very heavy diffusion in a small, unventilated space. The amount of essential oil released by a burning candle, reed diffuser, or wax melt in a well-ventilated room is significantly lower than these scenarios.

How We Approach This at Elsie & Tom

All our essential oil blends are formulated to comply with IFRA (International Fragrance Association) safety standards, which set maximum concentration levels for each oil. Our candles, wax melts, and diffusers release essential oils at very low ambient levels — far below the concentrations that studies have identified as problematic.

That said, we always recommend:

Good ventilation. Keep a window cracked or a door open when burning candles or using diffusers. This is good practice regardless of whether you have pets.

Placement out of reach. Keep candles, diffusers, and wax melt burners where curious paws and little fingers can’t reach them.

Observe your pets. If a pet seems bothered by a particular scent — leaving the room, sneezing, or showing signs of irritation — simply move the product to a different room or stop using it in their space.

Avoid direct contact. Never apply essential oils directly to a pet’s skin, and keep melted wax and diffuser liquid away from water bowls and food areas.

Essential Oils and Children

For children, the safety considerations are similar in principle: the concern is about direct, concentrated exposure rather than ambient scent from a candle across the room. Our products are not designed for topical application on children, unless specifically formulated like our magnesium balm and as with any flame or hot wax, candles should always be kept out of reach.

The gentle ambient levels released by our candles and diffusers are well within the ranges considered safe for normal household use. Many of our customers are parents who specifically choose natural essential oil products because they want to avoid the synthetic chemicals found in conventional home fragrance.

A Note on Our Magnesium Balm

Our magnesium balm is a topical product and is formulated and approved for children aged 3 and above. If you’re considering using any topical product on children, we’d always recommend checking with your GP or health visitor first.

The Bottom Line

We formulate our products with care, list every ingredient including allergens. Listing just the plant name is not listing potential allergens. Essential oils contain numerous compounds some of which are known allergens. We see a lot of companies on social media in particular, say they list all of their ingredients but fail in our mind deliberately to list the allergens which is a legal requirement and to comply with all UK and EU safety regulations.

If you have a specific concern about a particular oil and your pet or child, please do get in touch at via email — we’re always happy to talk through the specifics of any blend.