How to get an even burn from the very first light

If you have ever had a candle burn a narrow hole straight down the middle, leaving a thick wall of wax around the sides, you have met tunneling. It is the complaint we hear about most from people talking about candles in general, and the good news is that it is nearly always avoidable. It comes down to the first time you light it.

Why the first burn matters so much

Soy wax has a memory. The first time you light a candle, the melted wax spreads out from the wick in a pool. When you blow it out, that pool sets with a slightly different edge from the wax around it. Next time, the flame tends to melt down to that same edge and no further.

So if the first burn only lasts twenty minutes and the pool reaches halfway to the sides, the candle will try to repeat that halfway pool for the rest of its life. Each burn digs the tunnel a little deeper.

How long to burn it the first time

Keep it lit until the melted wax reaches the sides of the jar or tin all the way round. As a rough guide:

• A travel tin takes about an hour to an hour and a half.
• An 8 oz jar takes about two to three hours.
• A 16 oz jar can take three hours or a little more.

That is why the first light is best on an evening you are at home, not ten minutes before you go out.

Every burn after that

Three habits keep it even all the way down:

• Trim the wick to about 1/4 inch before each light, once the wax is cool. Nail clippers work if you do not have a wick trimmer.
• Burn for up to four hours at a time. Longer than that and the wick can mushroom and smoke.
• Keep it out of drafts. An open window, a ceiling fan or a heating vent pushes the flame to one side, and the wax melts unevenly.

If it has already tunneled

You can usually rescue it. Wrap a strip of kitchen foil around the top of the jar so it overhangs the wax by an inch or so, leaving a gap in the middle over the flame. Light it and keep an eye on it. The foil bounces heat back onto the wall of wax, and after an hour or two the surface melts level again. Then let it set, take the foil off, and give it a long, full burn next time.

There is more on wicks, drafts and safety on our candle care page.