Although each of our candles are unique, best burning practices are pretty universal. Burning a candle may seem like a pretty obvious process but following some simple tips will make sure your candle burns evenly, stays clean, and gives you the longest burn life.

Trim your wick to 1/4” for the first burn and every burn after. Keep any of the wick trimmings out of the candle.
- Bonus tip: some wicks are not easy to access with household scissors, and purchasing a fancy wick trimmer is not necessary. The best candle wick trimmer I have found and use every day, is a nail clipper! You can purchase one for cheap to dedicate to your candle wicks.

Your first burn is the most important! A candle creates a “memory ring” from its first burn, so if the wax hasn’t melted evenly across the top, it will continue to tunnel down and burn unevenly.
A general rule to make sure you give your candle the opportunity to melt properly is to burn the candle one hour for every inch of vessel diameter. Most of our vessels are 4” in diameter or less, or have multiple wicks, so a 4 hour burn time is the longest you would need. This leads me to the next tip….
A best practice for maximum burn time is 4 hours. When burned for longer, you may see wick curling or mushrooming, causing excess heat and smoke.
- It’s ok if your wick does mushroom (forms clumps on the end) keeping the wick trimmed before each burn will eliminate any issues. Make sure you are cleaning up and trimming your wick every time!
Keep your candle on a fire proof surface, especially when your candle gets down to the bottom. The bottom of your candle will be hot and can cause a burn mark.
- Alot of our tea cups come with a saucer. I also use mismatched vintage plates and saucers for under my candles.
Make sure your candle is 2 feet from flammable objects and air drafts (fans, vents, open windows) not only for safety but for a cleaner burn.
If you are burning a ritual candle with crystals and florals, you can remove any of the objects at any time, or leave them in the wax until your candle is gone. Be sure to keep decoration away from the wick to make sure the flame doesn’t get smothered out. Florals embedded in candles will not burn as long as there is still wax in your candle.
- When your candle is gone, remove your crystals, clean off wax, and keep to continue to use and enjoy.

If you have a candle with excess wax you can minimize waste by freezing the candle, popping the wax out of the vessel, and using chunks of it in a wax melter.

Candle Burning Tips

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