Soot Shield

During my freshman year of college, for safety reasons, burning candles was a forbidden activity in the dorms. However, you all know that when you're trying to hook up with someone, candles are a great mood enhancer. Therefore, forget the rules. I burned candles....a lot. I made it the whole year without being caught and thought I was home free. Unfortunately, when I removed all the posters and pictures from my walls, there remained clean, bright, white squares surrounded by sooty gray walls, which had been previously unnoticable. Needless to say, there was no way this could be overlooked by my resident advisor when she checked me out of my room. I can only imagine that my house, in which I never move pictures or posters, is just as bad if not worse.

I know there are companies that make soot-free candles, but many times these are unscented (and I only burn scented candles) and they are not widely available. Therefore, I propose making a Soot Shield for candles. This would be something like a bell jar-shaped cover made from a flame-resistant mesh material (kind of like mosquito netting). When you're ready to burn your candle, cover it with the Soot Shield and hopefully all that nasty, wall discoloring soot will cling to the material and never make it to your walls. The Soot Shield would be machine washable and come in various colors.