Once I realized how to properly burn a candle, I started researching how to fix a candle. Most of my candles, if not all of them, needed help and a lot of cleaning. I figured I couldn’t be the only one with improperly burned candles, so I created a blog post for both fixing candles and how to properly care for them after that.
In this post, you’ll learn how to fix a candle that you haven’t properly cared for in the past.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am no candle expert and some candles cannot be brought back in a flash, but if you have some mild tunneling and black smoke, I’m your girl.
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Before
After
How to fix a candle in 5 steps
YOU’LL NEED:
- Improperly burned candle
- Aluminum foil
- Wick trimmers (no, not scissors)
- Matches or lighter
- Trim your wick. Chances are, part of your candle’s problem is due to improper wick trimming. Start fixing your candle while the wax is dry by trimming your wick down to ¼ of an inch. If any black pieces fall, remove them before proceeding to the next step.
- Light your candle. The next step is to light all of the wicks in your candle. If any of the wicks are folded over and melted into the wax, light the ones that you can for now. You want the candle to burn as evenly as possible.
- Cut a piece of tin foil. Use a thick strip of tin foil and wrap it around the top of the candle, leaving an opening for the flame to burn. The tin foil creates a concentrated amount of heat within the candle allowing the wax to melt evenly. Check it after 20 minutes. You will want the candle to burn until the top layer of wax has completely melted into an even pool.
- Put out the flame then carefully remove debris. For this process, you can use a plastic spoon or any object that you can throw away to carefully dip into the hot wax. For this part, you will want to scoop up particles and debris from previous burns that hadn’t been removed. If you have wicks that have folded into the wax from previous burns, this is your time to do a little TLC on them. I use the dipper that came with my candle care kit. It looks like a pick and works to move the wick back into proper alignment.
- Allow your candle to completely cool, then clean the glass. If you have soot around the inside of your candle, you can easily fix this with a paper towel and coconut oil. Use the coconut oil on the paper towel to gently wipe the inside of the candle. I have found that using a lighter to light my flame causes soot. I recommend using matches for future lighting!
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