Getting The Most From Your Candles
It is peak candle season right now. Whether you're getting down with the hygge trend or you're covering every surface in a bid to banish the winter darkness, no doubt you're spending more time striking matches that at any other time of year. It is, however, during this high concentration of candle-burning, that I remember how annoying they can be, not burning equally or dropping little black bits everywhere. How do you take care of and get the most out of your candles.A few weeks ago my friend and I went to a candle making workshop which turned out to be in a Turkish lady's kitchen in a council flat in Kew. And yes, it was exactly like the set up to the surrealist comedy sketch it sounds like. I did, however, learn a few good tips for keeping my candles ship shape.
The First Burn
It turns out that the first burn is really important. The first time you light a candle you need to burn it for three hours, which is the opposite of what I've always done as I didn't want to 'waste' the candle. The long first burn ensures that the wax melts evenly, stopping that tunnelling you get where the majority of the wax sticks to the sides while the wick burns away in a shallow pool at the bottom.
Trim the wick
Trim the wick down to a couple of millimetres above the wax before you light it. Not only does it stop those big black lumps dropping into your beautiful candle, but ensures that the ratio of wax to wick is correct, reducing soot and that flickering flame.
Getting rid of air bubbles
Have you ever bought a candle in a nice glass jar only to get it home and there be big air bubbles and gaps between the wax and the glass. These don't affect the burning, but they don't look especially great, especially if you've spent a lot of money on a candle. This is caused by the wax contracting in the cold, so all you need to do is warm up the glass. Gently blow it with a hairdryer or hold it over a steaming kettle and the wax will expand to fill the gaps and look just as perfect as when you bought it.