Candle care
How to care for your candle
A few small habits make a candle burn evenly, last longer, and smell the way it should.
First burn
Let the wax reach the edge
The first time you light a candle, let it burn until the pool of melted wax reaches the edge of the glass. In a standard jar that takes about two hours. Wax has a memory — if you put it out while there is still a rim of solid wax, it will tunnel down the middle every time after.
Before you light it
Trim the wick to five millimetres
Cut the wick back each time, once the wax has set and before you light it. A long wick makes a tall flame that smokes, marks the glass, and burns through wax faster than it should. Scissors work, but a wick trimmer catches the trimmed end.
While it burns
Three to four hours at a time
That is long enough for the scent to fill a room and short enough that the glass stays comfortable to touch. Past four hours the flame gets bigger, the jar gets hot, and the fragrance oil starts to burn off rather than travel. If you want scent all evening, light it for a few hours and then let it rest.
Keep it out of a draught
An open window, a fan, or a busy hallway will pull the flame sideways. The candle burns down unevenly, the glass soots up on one side, and it goes twice as fast. A still surface away from the traffic of a room is best.
Know when to stop
Retire a candle when about a centimetre of wax is left in the bottom. Below that, the heat has nowhere to go but into the glass. Never leave one burning unattended or near anything that can catch, and keep it away from children and pets.
Keep the vessel
Once the candle is finished, pour just-boiled water into the jar and leave it until the last of the wax lifts and sets on top. Lift it out, wash the glass with warm soapy water, and you have a decent tumbler, a brush pot, or somewhere to keep the matches for the next one.
Want the longer version? Read how to care for your candle in the journal.
