Candle Care 101Updated 2 years ago

Below are the basics steps for properly using candles for the life of the product. 

Trim your wick. Trimming the wick to 1/4 " inch each time your candle is lit. You can carefully trim the wick with scissors or with a Wick Trimmer before each burn. 

The first burn. 

How you begin burning your candle determines how it performs the rest of its lifespan. Candles have "flesh-memories" and they will only burn as far as the last time you burned it. On the first burn, you want to burn it until it pools from one side of the candle to the other. A good rule of thumb is to burn a candle 1 hour for every inch it is wide. If your candle is 4 inches wide, burn a minimum of 4 hours on the first burn. Depending on the size of the candle, you may need to burn it for more or less the recommended time. For best results with standard candle sizes, burn for 4 hours then extinguish and allow to cool before relighting. 

Recentering the wick. 

As the wax liquefies and evaporates, the wick may shift. Once you have blown out the flame and before the wax cools, take a pair of tweezers and recenter the wick so that it is evenly in the middle of the candle. If your wick is leaning too close to the glass, it could heat the glass and potentially cause the glass to crack from the heat. 

Tunneling. 

Candle Tunneling occurs when only the center of the wax melts and burns down leaving a large amount of wax at the edges.  The cause is most typically a result of not trimming the wick and properly burning the candle on the very first burn. To prevent this candle tunneling it's essential to burn the candle long enough on the first burn. Other causes could be that the wick is not large enough for the size of the candle and does not give off enough heat to pool the wax to the edge of the candle. 

Don't burn too long! 

We do not recommend burning candles for longer than 4 hours or the appropriate length of time for the size candle. Calculate 1 hour for every 1 inch the candle is wide to determine if your candle requires more burn time. 

Extinguish and discard candles when 1/2" of wax remains. Continuing to burn with less than 1/2" of wax can be hazardous as the glass or tin will continue to heat with the burning wick and could shatter or catch fire. 

Disposal. 

You can discard your candle in the nearest receptacle once the candle is extinguished and cooled. If you wish to keep the vessel you can clean out any remaining wax in a number of different ways. The link below will demonstrate ways to remove wax. 

How to Remove Wax- Architectural Digest article

*We do not advise repurposing any vessels to be used for food or beverage consumption. 

Safety measures.

1.  Burn every candle within sight. Never leave a burning candle unattended.
2. Keep out of the reach of children and pets.
3. Keep it away from flammable items.
4. To prevent fire, place only on a heat-resistant and flameproof surface.
5. Avoid cold surfaces such as glass or marble.
6. Avoid drafty areas.
7. Keep foreign matter and wick trimmings out of the candle.
8. Always leave at least 2 inches between burning candles. 

Below are the two main reasons why three-wick candles burn faster:

1. Three-wick candle tends to be much larger in volume than a candle with fewer wicks.

2. The more wicks in a candle, the more heat, and flame on the top of the candle while it burns. This adds to how fast the candle burns.