Your First Ignition
CLUB CANDLE HOT TIP
The first time you light your new candle let the wax melt right to the edge!
As a long term candle lover, this was something that I never knew. By blowing out your candle before the wax has melted or at least got warm all the way to the edge on your first burn, you will get a tunnelling effect. This is where a candle will burn down the centre, leaving a hard rim of wax around the edge and the result - your candle won’t burn for as long as it should.
All this can be prevented with easy candle care
The first time you light your candle, make sure you have a few hours to burn (pun intended) let your candle burn long enough so it melts the wax all the way across the top until it almost reaches the edge. If it doesn’t melt it all the way across, when you blow it out, it solidifies and leaves an indentation in the wax. The diameter of the original wax melt will set the memory for the life of that candle. Who’s gone and bought an expensive candle wanting a really long burn, and had this happen?
To get technical you need to let your candle burn an hour per inch of the diameter of the vessel, so if you have a candle that is 2" wide, let it burn for at least 2 hours. If it’s not all the way, but almost there and its midnight and you want to go to bed, it’s OK. Most of the time the last rim of the candle will melt down the edges as the candle goes down.
A great way to fix this is while the wax is still warm, use a wick dipper or the end of a spoon to scrape around the side of the glass. Try and push the warm outer wax into the hot melt pool. It may set a little funny but on the next burn, this can help the candle, lose its memory and burn correctly.
If it's set, some will say to wrap the outside of your candle in aluminium foil to warm up the vessel as it burns, not very attractive! But it does work, just make sure you don’t leave the foil on for too long as it may heat the vessel too much and shatter the glass container. You could try to melt the surface using a hairdryer, this can sometimes end in disaster with wax blown all up the side of your vessel unless you have a diffuser on the end so you are just using heat and not the blowing that you get from a hairdryer. You can even try scooping out the rim of un-melted wax with a spoon down to the point of the original wax melt. If this is your option, make sure you re-use the wax in a wax melt so you still get the benefits of a beautiful aroma through your home, even though you don’t get the ambience of a flickering candle. Ultimately the best way is to use a heat gun, it gets hot enough to melt the wax, without blowing it all over your kitchen counter.
You’ve got a luxury fragranced candle, you want to get the most out of it. By following this simple step, you’re on track to enjoying all of your beautiful candle, not just part of it.
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