CANDLE 101: How to Avoid and Fix Candle Tunnelling
Did you know that candles have ‘MEMORY’?
The first burn determines whether your candle will burn evenly (or unevenly - you wouldn’t want this!) throughout its lifespan. When you light your candle, it will only melt across as far as it did the first time, so make sure to let the wax melt all the way to the edge of the container to avoid forming a memory ring that will cause tunnelling on all its future burn.
Follow these tips if you want to avoid your candle from forming a tunnel:
On your first burn, DO NOT extinguish your candle too early. (I cannot stress enough how important this is).
Let your candle burn long enough and wait for the wax to completely melt across all the surface. This will let your candle burn evenly and prevent it from tunnelling on the subsequent burns.
Keep away your lit candle from windy spaces to avoid the flame from flickering. This may decrease burn time that will eventually lead to uneven burn. Avoid moving your candle while it is burning and/or if the wax is melted, you wouldn’t want the wick of your candle to shift on one side. Just move the wick to the center using a stick or a candle dipper if the wick shifted away.
HOW TO AVOID TUNNELLING
I know that this is visually unappealing (and frustrating too!) but you can fix this by using materials you can find at home.
Hairdryer or Heat Gun
If your candle started to form a memory ring, you may fix this by heating the top part of the candle using a heat gun or you may use a hairdryer that is set to hot.
Foil (you can use the foil in two ways)
The first method is by simply placing a foil around the candle’s edge. Avoid putting the foil too close to the wick.
The second method is putting the foil as a lid but be sure to put a hole/opening on the part where the wick is.
Let the candle burn until the wax melted all the way to edge and voila, no more uneven burn!
I hope these tips will help you resolve your tunnelling candle problems, and help you make the most out of your Pressedworks soy wax candles.
