Candles can alter the ambiance of an indoor space quickly. They provide illumination in a way that creates a relaxing atmosphere, gives off a warm vibe, and fills the air with a warm fragrance that reminds us of pleasant memories. However, there are times when our favorite candles give us difficulty, preventing us from reaping the vital advantages they possess.
The wick may be too short to be lit correctly when a candle doesn't burn properly. You might believe your candle has burned out and needs to be discarded; however, this isn't the case! Check out these practical solutions for dealing with a wick that is too short and ensuring that your scented candles flame uniformly. First of all, we'll discuss how to prevent it in the first place.
By the way, we have also discussed how you can burn a candle without a wick, read our article to know more information about it.
The wick of a candle should be trimmed to a length of between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch before being lit for the first time for an equal burn. However, if you cut the wick any closer than needed, you could find yourself needing one of the other solutions on this list to solve the problem. You can accomplish it with nail clippers, scissors, or a specialist candle wick trimmer if you wish to go all out. Moreover, your wick type also matters, there are different pros and cons of wooden wicks and cotton wicks.
Letting a candle burn for too long can cause the wax to overheat and produce less light. If you want to avoid this, let the initial layer of wax melt thoroughly. This should take around 12 minutes. You can tell if the surface has melted enough if it looks shiny.
Wax has a memory; reversing the process after the first few tunneling applications is extremely tough. Tunneling speeds up the rate at which your candles are used wreaks havoc on the wicks, and can cause them to become disproportionately short.
Keeping the candle away from drafts is important, as this can cause uneven burning or blow out the flame before the entire top layer of wax has melted. This will help encourage an even burn and prevent tunneling.
Start trimming the wick if you want to avoid tunneling and have an evenly burning candle. If you don't remove the small curls that look like mushrooms off the top of the wick, your flame will be lumpy and won't burn evenly. Trimmed correctly, you can then enjoy your properly shaped candle flame.
If your candle's wick is too short, you may want to extend it. You might try one of these methods based on the length of the wick:
If the wick can still be lit, light the candle and allow it to burn for 20 to 30 minutes while keeping an eye on it to see how it is doing because some type of wax burns longer. If the wick cannot be lit, throw out the candle.
If the issue does not resolve itself, extinguish the candle by carefully blowing it out and then pouring the wax into a basin or plate that does not need to be cleaned. Please wait until it has cooled, and then get rid of the wax.
If you don't want to spill the melted wax, use paper towels to soak it up instead of pouring it. You need to relight the wick on the candle, but you should just let it keep burning. Please check on it regularly to see how the flame is doing.
If the candle appears to be burning evenly, you should let it continue to do so until the entire surface of wax has fully melted away. Remember that you do not want to produce any candle tunnel! Once a sufficient amount of wax has melted, extinguish the flame and allow the wax to harden around the wick that has just been exposed.
If you still think, your candle flame is small, then you can read our article about it.
If the wick doesn't light, use a heat gun to melt the wax to light the candle. Then pour out the melted wax and proceed with the procedure as laid out above. If you don't have a hair dryer or a candle lighter, you can use a spoon or a butter knife to remove the wax from the container instead of using a heat gun. Because the wick is held in place by a metal tab and can potentially catch fire, it's not advised to put the candle container in the microwave.
If your candle wick is buried, this usually means that the wick is long enough. However, when the wax around it melts, the wick can get bent over and make it difficult to light since there isn't enough of it sticking out. To fix this problem, use a heat gun or common candle lighter to melt the wax encircling the wick.
After the wax has completely melted, you can carefully remove the wick by using tweezers to raise it up and away from the wax. Because the wick could be fragile, you need to be careful not to damage it. Allow some time for the wax to solidify around the candle. You might need to support the wick when the candle lets off its heat. If you want to avoid dealing with this issue again, trim the candle's wick before lighting it.
Don't freak out if the length of the wick on your candle is insufficient. Try one of these three solutions if you're having trouble lighting your candle. And don't forget to follow the suggestions to avoid having a candle wick that's too short, to begin with in the first place!
