Why are my candles tunneling?

Tunneling happens when only a small portion of the wax around the wick melts while the candle is burning. Instead of having the entire surface of the wax melt evenly, it will appear as though the flame is burrowing into the candle and creating what resembles a small, vertical tunnel — hence the name.

Why do my homemade candles keep tunneling?

Tunneling is usually caused by having a wick that is not large enough for your wax, or 'underwicking' your container or fragrance. Essentially, tunneling happens as the wick drowns in its own melt pool and due to this, the burn time and scent throw is significantly reduced.

Why are my candles tunneling after pouring?

Tunneling. Tunneling occurs when a candle wick consumes too much fuel (wax+fragrance) too quickly. Instead of a slowly forming, wide melt pool that extends to the edges of a container, a narrow melt pool forms in the center and burns down quickly, leaving a large amount of wax on the sides of the container.

Will a tunneling candle fix itself?

If you leave a candle that tunnels by itself, sometimes it will correct and melt the remaining wax, but most of the time it won't, leaving you with a permanent ring of solid wax around the perimeter of the container. You need to act quick to avoid wasting any wax! The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to fix.

How do you get candles to burn evenly?

Candle Tunneling

How do you prevent a sinkhole from a candle?

How do you level a tunneling candle?

If the tunneling is mild, you can blast the top of the candle with a hairdryer. The hot air will melt and smooth the wax, making it more level. The next time you burn the candle, follow the instructions for the first burn and melt the entire first layer of wax so it doesn't happen again.

How do you smooth the sides of a candle?

The best way to deal with a short or buried wick is to melt the entire surface with a heat gun, and dump out the excess wax. But, if you don't have a heat gun, turn the candle on its side and melt the wax onto folded foil, or a foil pie pan, as evenly as possible and without burning yourself.

Do you have to burn a candle to the edge every time?

"The first burn is the most important—the candle wax must pool to the edge on the initial burn. We always like to remind people that wax has memory, meaning that if your candle doesn't burn to the edges, it will begin to tunnel and won't burn evenly the next time.

What happens if you put too much fragrance oil in a candle?

Add too much fragrance: Using more fragrance oil does not always guarantee a stronger scent throw. Each wax has a recommended fragrance oil load and going beyond that limit can cause the fragrance oil to separate from the wax which could be a potential fire hazard (not to mention the ugly "gooey" spots it can create).

Why do my homemade candles dip in the middle?

The problem of 'why do homemade candles sink in the middle' has a relatively simple answer and an even simpler fix. Wax sinks when it sets because as the wax cools, it slowly contracts and can leave what I refer to as 'sink holes' in the middle of your candles, but can also present as sunken dips around the wick.

Why do my candles not burn evenly?

Incorrect wick size: A very common cause of tunnelling is the usage of a wick too small for the volume of wax or the width of your vessel. A wick which is too small may, despite its best efforts, not have enough power to burn the wax from edge to edge.

How do you fix a tunneled candle jar?

Use Aluminum Foil

Take some aluminum foil and wrap it around the outside edge of the candle. The trick here is to make sure the foil reaches over the tunneled wax. You'll also want to keep an open center so the flame can continue to burn as usual.

How do you make a 3 wick candle burn evenly?

The three-wick candle's first burn is the most important; let it burn until the wax pools evenly across the top of the candle. This may take several hours, depending on the size of the candle and the wicks. Let the candle burn until there's an even melt pool across the top of the candle -- every time you light it.

Why are my candles not smooth on top?

Why Is My Candle Bumpy? There are two main reasons your candles aren't coming out as smooth as you hoped: temperature fluctuations and improperly mixed fragrance oils.

What is the best temperature to pour soy wax?

Pouring Candles - Make sure that the container is at room temperature or slightly warmer. The wax should be poured into the container while it is 120 - 165 F to reduce cracking and speed up the cure time of the wax.

Why is my wick drowning?

If your candle wick is drowning, that means the size of the wick might be too small for the candle container or the quality of the wick is low. This causes the wick to burn too quickly and “drown” in its own wax pool.

How do you fix a tunneling pillar candle?

There are several ways to fix a tunneling candle. The first one is by simply allowing the candle to burn for a longer period of time. So let's say you're burning your candle for only 3 hours, try leaving it on for a little bit longer than that or until the edge of the wax has already melted.

How do you fix a candle tunnel in the oven?

The good news is that you can rescue a slightly tunneled candle with this clever kitchen hack. Set your oven to 175°F, and pop the candle in for about five minutes. The temperature of the air should be just warm enough to melt the wax, allowing the candle's surface to level out again without disturbing its vessel.

Why should you only burn candles for 3 hours?

If you burn your candle for more than 4 hours at a time, carbon will collect on the wick, and your wick will begin to "mushroom." This can cause the wick to become unstable, the flame to get too large, your candle to smoke, and soot to be released into the air and around your candle container.

How do you fix a tunneling foil candle?

Turns out aluminium foil is the key to fixing a tunnelled candle quickly. Simply wrap foil around the edge of the candle, leaving a hole in the middle so that the wick can burn through properly. After a couple of hours, your wax would have melted to an evened-out level.

What happens if you don't cure a candle?

At the minimum, there is about a 2-week cure time with our candles. So it is best to not light your candle until it is fully cured. candle will perform. If you were to burn your candle before it's cure-by-date, your candle will physically burn fine yet the fragrance won't be as strong as if you had waited.