Candle Care 101

Lighting a candle is as simple as striking a match and holding it to a wick, right? Technically, yes, but if you want to enjoy a cleaner burn and a longer-lasting candle, these simple steps can help.

Choose your surface

To avoid damage, only place candles on heat-resistant surfaces. For your safety, you should also place candles away from drafts, open windows, children, and pets.

Trim the wick

Before lighting your candle for the first time (and every time after that), use a tool like a wick cutter to trim its wick to about a quarter of an inch. This will help prevent smoking or overheating.

Consider burn times

On the first light, burn your candle until the entire surface of the wax has melted. This will likely take about three hours and will help prevent tunneling in the future. Every time you light your candle, never burn it for more than four hours at a time, and always burn it within sight.

Center the wick

When a candle’s wick is off-center, soot can gather on the side of the glass as the flame gets too close. To avoid this, adjust the wick to the center after each burn while the wax is still molten.

Say goodbye (the right way)

When there’s only about a quarter of an inch of wax left, it’s time to stop using your candle. To easily remove the remaining wax, place your candle in the freezer. When the wax freezes, it should easily pop out of its vessel. From there, you can recycle or upcycle the glass.