JEDDAH, 11 December 2003 — Thurayya Hafni, an enterprising Saudi woman, is hoping to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by making the world’s tallest candles.
Hafni told Sayidaty, a sister publication of Arab News, she was also seeking to patent her range of decorative and scented candles.
“Decorating my house and keeping things in order has been my hobby since childhood,” Hafni said.
She travels a lot and noticed how popular decorative candles in all shapes and sizes are elsewhere.
“I thought of making special candles to be put at the entrances of rooms,” Hafni said. “I’m also perfuming them.”
The lack of candle factories in the Kingdom initially presented a problem. “This meant I had to buy huge amounts of candles from shops, and people were starting to look at me funny,” she said.
Dissolving the candles and adding perfume to them, she also suffered burns — some of them contain inflammable chemicals.
Her family was not enthusiastic initially, but Hafni said they came round when they saw the results.
When not making candles, Hafni has also prepared an effective insecticide to fight cockroaches and other insects, which she said is much safer than other insecticides.
“I’m going to submit it to the Health Ministry for tests, and I’m hoping it will be approved for the market,” she added.
