1. Trim the wick before every burn
Cotton wicks should sit at about 5 mm (¼ inch) before you light them. Longer wicks flicker, throw soot, and mushroom at the tip. Use a wick trimmer or clean scissors, and discard the trimmings — never leave them in the wax pool.
2. Respect the first burn
The first time you light a soy candle, let the wax pool reach the edge of the vessel before you snuff it. Soy wax has a "memory" — if you blow it out early, it will tunnel down the middle on every future burn and waste most of the wax against the glass.
3. Preventing candle tunneling
If tunneling has already started, wrap the top of the jar loosely in foil with a small opening and burn it for two to three hours. The trapped heat melts the outer wax back into the pool. Repeat once or twice and the surface will re-level.
4. Keep burns to 3–4 hours
Soy wax burns cooler than paraffin, but long sessions still overheat the vessel and shorten the wick's life. Snuff the flame after three to four hours, let the candle cool, trim the wick, and relight when you're ready.
5. Safety rules we won't skip
- Never leave a lit candle unattended, and keep it away from drafts, pets, and children.
- Burn on a heat-safe surface — ceramic or stone, never directly on wood.
- Stop burning when about 1 cm (½ inch) of wax remains at the bottom.
- Snuff, don't blow — it prevents wax splatter and hot embers.
6. Storage between burns
Keep candles out of direct sunlight and away from heat. Soy wax is soft; a warm shelf can distort the surface and fade the scent. A lidded jar in a cool cupboard is ideal.
Do these six things and a hand-poured soy candle will give you every hour it was designed for — with a cleaner throw and a much longer scent life.