Candle Care | 7 Tips for a Longer, Better Candle Burn

Candle Care 101: How to Get the Most Out of Your Candle

Want to make your candles last longer, burn evenly, and smell amazing? With the right care techniques, you can maximize scent throw, prevent tunneling, and extend burn time.

At Willis Candle Shop, we want you to enjoy every burn to the fullest—so here’s how to properly care for your candles for the best results. Feel free to contact us at help@williscandleshop. com or just respond to this blog with any questions.

Wick Trimming for a Cleaner Burn

✔ Trim your wick before every burn to 1/4 inch for cotton wicks or 1/8 inch for wooden wicks.
✔ Prevents excessive soot and keeps the flame steady without flickering.
✔ Use a wick trimmer or scissors for a precise cut before lighting.

Why It Matters: Long wicks cause uneven burning, wasted wax, and black soot on the glass.

Burn Time: How Long Is Too Long?

✔ Burn for 2-4 hours max to prevent wax from overheating.
✔ Let the wax fully cool before relighting to maintain fragrance quality.

❌ What to Avoid:

• Burning for too long can weaken scent throw and cause the vessel to overheat.
• Short burns can cause tunneling, wasting wax around the edges.

Why It Matters: Sticking to the ideal burn time ensures a longer-lasting candle and better scent diffusion.

Keep Wax Pools Clean for Optimal Performance

✔ Before relighting, check the wax pool.
✔ Remove wick trimmings and dust to prevent them from getting trapped in the wax.

Why It Matters: A clean wax pool = a cleaner, smoother burn with no interruptions in fragrance throw.

The Right Way to Extinguish Your Candle

✔ Use a candle snuffer to extinguish the flame without smoke or wax splatter.
✔ Let the wax fully solidify before covering the candle with a lid.

❌ What to Avoid:

• Blowing out the flame aggressively—this can push wax around and create an uneven surface.
• Covering the candle too soon—trapped heat can affect fragrance quality.

Why It Matters: Proper extinguishing preserves wax quality and reduces smoke buildup in your space.

Vessel Safety: Why Placement and Surface Type Matter

Where you place your candle matters as much as how you burn it. Always set your candle on a flat, heat-resistant surface—never on plastic, fabric, or uneven areas. This helps prevent accidental tipping, heat damage, or soot stains on your furniture. For glass candles, maintaining stability is especially important because uneven surfaces can cause heat to distribute unevenly, affecting how the wax melts.

Don’t place your candle in drafty spots like near windows or under ceiling fans. This disrupts the flame and can cause tunneling, uneven wax pools, and even flare-ups. Customers who purchase our coconut soy candles or double wick candles often comment on how consistent their burn is—and proper placement plays a big part in that experience.

First Burn: The Most Important Burn of All

That very first burn sets the stage for how your candle performs from start to finish. Allow your candle to burn until a full melt pool forms—edge to edge. This can take 2–4 hours depending on vessel size, especially for long burning candles and larger jars like our 14.5 oz black frosted glass candle.

Why does this matter? If you extinguish your candle before the wax melts all the way across, it will begin to tunnel. This means wax builds up around the edges and never fully melts, wasting product and shortening the candle’s lifespan. For our phthalate-free candles and eco-friendly candles, a proper first burn also activates the full fragrance profile, letting those rich scent layers shine through.

Storage Tips: Keep Candles Fresh Between Burns

When you’re not using your candle, store it in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. Excessive heat can cause the wax to soften or sweat, especially in natural blends like our coconut soy candles. Sunlight can also fade dye and weaken fragrance over time.

Covering your candle with its lid between uses helps lock in the scent and keeps out dust. For glass candles and jar candles, this also maintains a clean surface so your next burn isn’t affected by debris or buildup. Customers storing romantic candles, fall candles, or seasonal scents find this tip especially useful to preserve fragrance until the right occasion.

When to Stop Burning: Candle Safety to the End

You should stop burning your candle when about 1/2 inch of wax remains at the bottom of the vessel. Burning past this point can overheat the container—especially tin candles and glass candles—which poses a safety risk.

At Willis Candle Shop, all our non-toxic candles are tested for safe performance down to the last burn. Still, it’s smart practice to leave a little wax at the end to avoid damaging surfaces or your vessel. This is particularly true for those enjoying masculine candles, scented candles for events, or our best candles home collection—where multiple hours of burn time are expected.

Final Thoughts: The Secret to a Perfect Burn

By following these simple care tips, you’ll:
Extend your candle’s lifespan
Enhance scent throw
Ensure a clean, even burn
Keep your space soot-free

For a quick reference, Browse Our Candle Care Guide.

Want high-quality candles that last? Click Our Eco-friendly Collection Here.

See what Amir Articles says about the Willis Candle Shop and Popular Candle Types and Trends.