Written by IALH Editor
Image via Pinterest
It might seem like a really basic thing, but there’s an art to burning your candles huns. There’s nothing worse than buying your favourite scent only to find after a few burns it’s nearly gone! Well don’t worry, we’ve got you. If you follow these steps and take good care of them then your boujie candles will last longer and you’ll get better value for money from each one you buy…
1) Always burn new candles for longer than 1 hour
The first time you burn a fresh candle you need to let it form a complete pool of melted wax across the middle, ideally reaching each side of the jar it’s in. Now timings for this will depend on the size of the candle of course, but a general rule is 3 hours for most.
if you don’t and just leave it lit for a few minutes in the first burn then every time you light it after that the candle will never form a wax pool further than the one it made the first time. Subsequently wasting all that wax on the outer edges!
2) Trim the wick!
Keeping the wick trimmed will mean your flame is always bright and not smoky. If you leave it too get too long, the sides of your candle jars will go black eventually and you’ll probably start to notice a lot of black in flame as well as orange. A wick should ideally be able 0.25 inches or 6 millimetres.
3) Always let them cool completely
Trimming the wick or moving the candle before it’s completely cooled can mess with the function of the candle and also be quite dangerous. Generally candles take around 2 hours to cool and it’s much safer to trim the wick of the wax has gone completely hard and the jar is totally cool.
4) Remove any debris or flakes
Before you do this make sure the candle is cool and take out any soot or burnt bits of wax from the pool of the candle. You can just a cotton pad or a small tissue to do this. If it came with a lid, use it! Replace the lid when not using your candles to keep dust particles out.
5) Don’t have them lit near an open window or fan
Too much air or a strong draft can cause your candle to burn unevenly or work extra hard to stay lit – meaning it’s going to go down faster! It will also produce more smoke, giving you that nasty black stain I mentioned earlier.
