How to Actually Take Care of Your Candle (So It Lasts 40 Hours)

The single most common candle mistake, responsible for most shortened burn times and almost all tunnelling: not letting the candle burn long enough on the first use.
Soy wax has memory. The first burn establishes the melt pool — the radius to which the wax melts before it starts to solidify. If you put the candle out before that pool reaches the edge of the vessel, the wax remembers that radius. The tunnel deepens with every burn after that. You end up with a tall ring of untouched wax around a deep hole, and a candle that's used maybe 30% of its wax before it's done.

One rule prevents all of this.

## The first burn rule
Burn one hour for every inch of vessel diameter on the first use. Our standard cement vessel is about 3 inches across, so the first burn should be at least three hours. Four is better. You don't need to stay in the room — just check in every hour or so.
That's it. That one rule, applied once, changes the entire life of the candle.

The wick trim

Before every burn after the first, trim the wick to about 6mm (¼ inch). Long wicks produce larger flames, more soot, and faster wax consumption. They also cause mushrooming — a carbon buildup at the tip that looks like a tiny mushroom and drops black flecks into the wax.

We include a trim guide on the bottom of every vessel. No wick trimmers? Nail scissors work fine.

## Burn time and extinguishing
Don't burn more than four hours at a time — the vessel heats up and the fragrance starts degrading. Extinguish with a snuffer or by briefly dipping the wick into the melt pool (this prevents the smoke that comes from blowing out). Let the wax fully set before relighting.

## When the candle is done
Fill the vessel with boiling water and let it cool. The remaining wax floats to the surface, solidifies, and lifts right out. Rinse with dish soap. The cement vessel is sealed — use it as a plant pot, pen holder, bathroom cup, ring dish, whatever you need.

And if you're in Vancouver or the Lower Mainland — bring it back. We'll refill it at our Burnaby studio. Same vessel, fresh wax, your choice of scent.

Expected burn time with proper care: 40 hours.