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5 Tips for Burning Soy Candles

Candles made of soy wax are great because they are all natural and burn cleaner than traditional paraffin candles. Below you'll find some tips to get the most enjoyment out of your soy candles.

Tip 1 - Keep your wick trimmed

Trimmed Soy Candle Wick

This is something that I always overlooked, but is probably the most important thing you can do before your lighting your candle. Trimming your wick to around 1/4" and removing any carbon will allow for a more visually appealing and controlled flame that evenly melts the wax. 

If you have ever experienced excess smoking, carbon, and black soot inside your candle containers, this could be a cause of the wick being too large and having excess buildup.

We highly reccomend using a wick trimmer which makes trimming candle wicks much easier, but if you do not have one you could use a pair of sharp scissors, nail clippers or just pinch it with off your fingers (if the candle has cooled!). 

Tip 2 - Always allow the melt pool to extend to the edges

Have you ever experienced "tunneling" in your candles? This is when the candle seems to burn down the middle leaving wax around the sides.

To avoid this you should allow the melt pool, which is the top layer of melted wax, to extend to all sides of the jar before extinguishing it.

It is important that you allow your candle to acheive a full melt pool on your first burn, which usually takes around 2-3 hours. 

Tip 3 - Don't burn you candle for more than 4 hours at a time

We recommend burning our candles for no more than 4 hours at time. If a candle is burned for more than 4 hours it can cause the wick to start producing excess carbon (mushrooming) as it is consuming a large amount of melted wax. 

As a candle burns, the jar can also get hot, and keeping the burn time to around 4 hours ensures that the jar remains cool to touch. 

Tip 4 - Try to avoid burning candles in drafty areas

This tip can help your candle burn slower, allowing you to enjoy it longer!

When you burn your candle in a drafty area, the extra air flow can cause the flame on your wick to burn hotter and bigger because of the extra oxygen. Trying to eliminate this helps the candle consume less wax.

There is also a visual aspect to this, as a nice steady flame looks much more appealing than one that is flickering and dancing around!

Tip 5 - Stop using your candle when 1/4 inch of wax remains

When your candle reaches around 1/4" of remaining wax in the jar, it is time to stop lighting it. This is primarily a safety issue as you do not want your wick burning in the jar with little to no wax. This could cause the jar to get too hot, and the wick will start producing excess carbon.

In our candles, the wick is securely placed in the jar with a heat resilient 
wick sticker. This keeps the wick in place when the melt pool is very low, and also  elevates our wicks slightly. This elevation is another safety precaution we take that promotes the wick to extinguish on its own before the wax level gets too low.

TIP: Our jars are meant to be repurposed! When there is a small amount of wax left in your jar, place it in the freezer for a few hours. Using a butter knife, you can then easily pop out the remaining wax once it has hardened. Either hand wash or run through the dishwasher and you have a nice small mason jar that you can be creative with!


I hope that these tips will help you have the best experience possible while burning your soy candles at home. 

If you have additional questions you can view our FAQ page here for additional answers and information.

Are there any tips that you have for getting the most out of your candles at home? Leave a comment below!

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