Candle Care 101
You've spent the time tracking down our hand poured all-natural soy wax candle so why not make sure you get the best burn and follow some tips to ensure that. Our goal is to share some basic candle burning knowledge to make sure that everyone that purchases from Summerfield Candle Co. gets the most out of their handcrafted soy candles. Some of these tips may be simple but all these factors are important in achieving a long clean burning candle. We have completed countless burn tests with our products and have been students of the game for years. In addition to our blog, we put together a quick educational video to help you all see the tips in action and to see how well our Summerfield Candle Co.'s 12 oz jar soy candles burn.
The two main tips to always practice with your candles are:
- First burn is the most important, especially to prevent tunneling.
- Always keep your wick trimmed around 1/4", to prevent mushrooming and keep your burn clean as possible.
TUNNELING
At Summerfield Candle Co. we pride ourselves in our quality of candle. The quality of a candle can be seen in a variety of ways. One of them is the candle has a wide and shallow melt pool that can reach the edge of the candle's container. Tunneling is an issue that we see in other candles, but you won’t with Summerfield Candle Co. Tunneling is what occurs when the wick consumes the wax too quickly and it forms a tunnel through the center of a candle. Tunneling is caused by the candle maker using the wrong wick size for their wax and jar.
The wax and jar of the candle dictate what size/type of wick is best for the candle. If you use a wick too small or weak, the tunneling will take place. Also, if you use a wick too big the candle will still burn poorly. The wrong wick choice will result in the candle burning too quickly and the candle won’t last as long. The sides of the candle will be hotter than normal and there will be a lot of carbon build up on the sides of the jar.
BURN TIME
For our candles (and for most candles) we suggest the first burn to be at least 3 hours long. Usually the recommended time of your burns are determined by the diameter of your candle. Our candles at Summerfield Candle Co. are all 3 inches in diameter. Every inch is equated to an hour of burn time. So, a candle with a 2inch diameter should be burned for at least two hours on the first light. Our candles are extremely slow burning compared to other candles on the market due to our high-quality ingredients and the size of our jars and wicks. Our candles are usually don’t form a full edge melt pool until 4 hours into the first burn. The downside of not burning your candle long enough on its first burn is that you can cause a "memory ring". This term is used to describe how a candle typically tries to burn down the original path/tunnel formed by the first burn.
MUSHROOMING
Mushrooming will take place too quickly with a poorly made candle as well. Mushrooming on a candle should not start within an hour or two of lighting your candle. Mushrooming is when the wick of a candle starts to show build up at the tip. This is a common occurring thing when burning candles and you will see it with all wicks and candles, the only red flag is it mushrooming were to happen within the first hour or less of lighting. Mushrooming is one of the reasons it is important to trim your wicks in-between each burn. At around 3-4 hours into the first burn is when most wicks will start to "mushroom".
WICK TRIMMING
The recommended size for keeping your candle wick is 1/4" length. By trimming your wick, it helps manage mushrooming, flaring, and uneven burning.
Our all-natural soy candles at Summerfield Candle Co. are slow burning and have a shallow melt pool due to our candles being made all-natural soy wax and our correctly sized wick. These tips will help you get the most out of your candle and for them to last longer and burn better.