Why is my luxury candle tunnelling?

THE most common question surrounding candles is ‘why is my candle tunnelling’  I have touched on this subject in my workshops and a little on previous blogs.

when a candle burns straight down the middle and doesn’t even look at the sides its called tunnelling.

Isn’t this one of the most ugly candles (poor thing) that you have ever seen. People assume that if this happens, it is a poor candle. This can be the case. However read on…

Lighting your luxury candle for the first time.

When you get your luxury candle home and unwrapped all the lovely packaging, STOP! this is one of the most important things you can do. Do you have enough time to light your candle? If you have around half an hour or so, don’t be tempted.

When you light your new luxury candle for the very first time, the wax has to have ‘pooled’ all the way to the edge of the glass or tin. If it doesn’t it will tunnel down the middle. Its almost like a footprint/memory that it will follow the same pattern all the way to the bottom, wasting your wax.

Now if you have made a boo boo and lit it the first time, don’t worry. This can only be done once, and once only. You can grab your hairdryer and very very gently re-melt the wax to effectively erase the first memory, taking great care that no wax comes up the edge.

It does sound like an incredible faff but if you want your luxury candle to last the recommended burn time its worth it.

Wick size

This is quite tricky to work out, the picture above in the candle is a small wick. The wick doesn’t generate enough heat to get to the edges. This might have been a good size for a votive.

It all depends on the type of wax that you use too. Do your research if you are going to be making candles. You can get a baking tray and line up all your wicks, giving enough space. Fill with your scented wax, 24 hours later, check the clock and light. Burn for a couple of hours then measure the ‘burn pool’ then you know the correct size of vessel that wick will accommodate.

Sharing is caring!