What's Wrong with my Candle? Common Problems and How to Solve Them

Scented candles can be a borderline obsession for some — there is a candle burning in every room of the house. For others, they may have had one bad experience and vowed to never spend money on a candle ever again because they didn’t get their money’s worth. Indulging in quality soy-wax scented candles can be a small investment, but they are well worth the money as long as you take care of them and learn how to troubleshoot any sort of problem that may occur.

Common Candle Burning Problems & Their Solutions 

1. Candle’s flame is too large — Is your candle’s flame too large? A large flame on a candle usually means the candle will be burning faster and hotter taking away precious burning hours. It is also more dangerous and a bigger fire hazard and can break glass because of the extra heat. How to fix it: The usual cause of a large flame is the wick is too long. Be sure to trim your candle wick to ¼ inch before burning each time.  

2. Candle is tunneling — When a candle burns hollow or leaves a thick, unused mantle or rim, this is referred to as 'tunneling'. It can be avoided by making sure the initial burn is long enough to melt the candle all the way to the edge. This is because the size of the wax pool during the first burn determines the life of the candle. Subsequent burns won't melt the wax beyond the initial wax pool, so if it didn't melt close enough to the edge of the candle, tunneling might occur. 
   How to fix it: As a rule of thumb, the first burn or memory burn for a new candle should be 1 hour per 1 inch in diameter. So for a 3-inch diameter candle, the initial burn time should be at least 3 hours. The wax pool should reach the edges before extinguishing the first burn. If tunneling has occurred but has not gone too far, you can fix it by “hugging” the candle, pushing the soft wax rim inwards towards the flame, so that it has a chance to melt.  If however, the tunneling has gone too deep to fix by hugging, the rim can be trimmed down with a sharp knife when the wax is warm. Be careful not to damage the rim or the candle might start dripping.

3. Candle’s wick looks like a mushroom (Mushrooming) —  Mushrooming in candles is also a big problem as it leads to the production of smoke or soot in candles. This usually happens when you burn your candles for more than 4 hours continuously or your candles are placed in an area that has a lot of dust particles around them. A layer of incompletely combusted materials stays on the wick and builds up a carbon cap on the top that is called a “mushroom”.
   How to fix it: The solution is never to burn your candles for more than 4 hours continuously, even if you do just extinguish the candle at intervals of 3 hours, trim the wick and relight them.

4. Candle scent isn’t strong —  When it comes to scent throw, the intensity depends on the fragrance category and the quality of the candle. The first thing you should do is always buy quality soy wax candles.
   How to fix it: If you have been burning your scented candle in a large room, then try to burn it in a smaller room, such as a bathroom, or office. Burn it for a longer duration, you will definitely get the right fragrance after two hours.

5. Candle’s wick is drowning — Just like it sounds - candlewick drowning is when the wick becomes immersed in wax and when it hardens the wax pool covers the wick causing it to not stay lit.
   How to fix it: This usually occurs from tunneling or shorter burn times, you can resolve this by burning your candle for the two-three hour minimum and following the above fix for candle tunneling. 

Usually, these issues can be easily fixed and avoided, and if they cannot then it's usually a symptom of a poor-quality candle (low-quality wick, wax or make) rather than incorrectly using the candle. Wax poetic offers the opportunity to create your own custom-scented premium quality candle, or you can shop online and choose to form our exclusively designed candles in your choice of mesmerizing aromas. Our candles are made with soy wax, organic cotton wicks, and clean-burning fragrances. Book your candle experience today and be sure to explore our offerings in our online shop.