Helpful hints on trimming your wick and how to burn your candle.

• Not everyone knows that there is a right and wrong way to burn a candle.
• The first step is to always trim the wick. 
• Trimmed wicks make for a cleaner burn with less smoky residue.

The wicks in Inner Light Collectives candles need to be trimmed before use. 

Have you ever found that when you have bought a new candle you burn it and it turns the glass all sooty and black. This has alot to do with how you trim your wick. 

You should trim your wick to about 7 mm leaving enough for it to light and burn close to the wax and make sure you do this each time you burn. 

You don't need special tools for this you can use scissors but when the candle is burned down further it is a little harder so using nail clippers is helpful. Always trim wick when wax is fully dry. 

When the wick is trimmed it offers a cleaner burn and you don't get that ball of charcoal on the end of your wick. Also when you don't trim the wick you can get that black residue on the candle jar, messing with the vibe. 

If you want your candle to burn evenly and last as long as possible, you have to light it for about 3 to 4 hours the first time you burn it. “We say that wax has a muscle memory, and it’s going to burn in the same pattern every time,” says Heyen from the candle bar.  “So if you light it for long enough the first time, that will ensure that your candle pools completely across all of the wax, setting it up to continue to do so with each subsequent burn.” Otherwise, tunneling, where the wick burns straight down the center of a candle without creating a full melt pool, can occur. Once your candle starts tunneling, you’re losing all that peripheral wax surface area for future burns.

You have a couple of options to bring a slightly tunneled candle back to life. You can use a hair dryer on low to even out the wax surface or pop the candle in an oven at 80 degrees for about 5 minutes. These two actions will melt the wax, so that it’s smooth and level across the top again. Scoop out any wax that flows over the wick.

It is  recommended not  to burn your candle for longer than four to six hours at a time. You want to prevent your candle from overheating. If you let the whole candle get to liquid form, the wick or wicks can float to the side, and it’s going to burn unevenly after that. Always keep a lit candle within your sight.

Also up-cycling your vessel is a great way to reuse as say, a planter, a makeup brush holder, or a pencil cup.