The Best Ever Tips For Burning Candles That Will Save You Money

There is nothing worse than spending your hard earned money on a candle and having most of it remain in the jar – wax stuck all around the edges and a tunnel down the middle.

Or, having a candle with side burns – you know, the wax that doesn’t seem to melt on one side of the candle making it look wonky.

And don’t forget that huge flame that seems to want to travel like something out of Stranger Things towards your ceiling.

These are all really common occurrences that once you know what causes them… will never be a part of your candle life, ever again.

The Best Tip Ever!

Firstly, and this really is the most important tip of all, it is the Coco to Chanel, the Alexander to the McQueen… it’s all about the Melt Pool.

Whats a Melt Pool? It’s when the wax melts all the way across the top of your candle leaving a lovely little pool on the top for your flame to swim in. Not that we want any wicks to be drowning of course!

To create your Melt Pool simply light your candle and let it melt until the wax has melted all the way across. With Willow & Tea candles this can take around 4 hours thanks to the cool burning ability of the soy wax we use.

Creating this Melt Pool stops what is called tunnelling which leaves most of your wax on the sides of the jar as the candle melts down, taking with it your hard earned cash along with it.

Soy wax can sometimes takes two burns to get this melt pool depending on the fragrance used. If you haven’t got a melt pool first time around, even after lighting it for 4 hours, and it’s almost there, it will appear the second time you light your candle.

Trim the wick

We all know this one but not many of us actually do it. I certainly never used to trim the wick until I understood why it was so important.

Before each burn trim the wick to about 5mm. This will give you a cleaner and brighter burn. It will stop that Stranger Things type flame reaching toward your ceiling and will eliminate any black soot that may be coming off the wick and blackening the sides of your jar. You know those embarrassing candles you hide in the kitchen cupboard when you’re hosting dinner parties because they look like you’ve dragged them from the coal mine yourself. This will stop if you simply trim the wick.

Trimming the wick keeps the flame in control. As we use cotton wicks in all our candles, if you don’t have a wick trimmer (great investment BTW) simply cut it to the right size. This creates an even burn all the way down.

I know it would be fabulous to burn those yummy smells all day long, however, it’s best to only burn candles for 2-4 hours at a time. This keeps the wick stable and stops it from mushrooming.

The Side Burns

Keep your candle away from drafts. This is key in preventing what we like to call ‘candle side burns’. If it’s in a draft you’ll definitely know about it, even if its an undetectable draft to us, as the flame will cause your wax pool to look lopsided; one side will be melted more than the other.

Candles don’t like to be left alone

Never leave a burning candle unattended. It’s just not safe and always keep candles away from children and pets.

With a little bit of love, comes long lasting joy!

Happy Customers

I just wanted to say how lovely the candles are! I’ve not even lit one yet but they smell so lovely and they look so fab too!
Lisa, from Ascot

Candles are beautiful. Thank you so much!
Heather, from Yateley

I’m so excited after opening my package today. The Bergamot and Patchouli is absolutely heavenly. Thank you. I’ll definitely be back for more!
Suzanne, Richmond

I can’t believe the smell. Its out of this world gorgeous. I’ve spent so much money on candles over the years and none have been as strong as this one.
Charlie, Epsom