What is it?
How to avoid it ?
How to fix it ?
Candles are an investment in themselves. Also they are quite personal to everyone as each individual has a specific liking for a fragrance. Choosing your favorite fragrance is quite an intimate experience. The uniqueness of matching each fragrance note to your personality is unparalleled.
One of the worst things a candle lover can experience is tunneling of the candle wax. It’s the worst nightmare as it absolutely destroys the whole experience of lighting candles. It strips you of the amazingness of the beauty to look at the candle, gives you less burn time which in turn makes you miss out on the complete experience of lighting your favorite candle.
What is candle tunneling?
Tunneling occurs due to an uneven wax melt. As a candle melts unevenly, the wick burns a tunnel into the middle of a candle which then leaves a thick ring of unmelted wax around the outside edge. Once a candle starts to tunnel, it will keep tunneling so every time you light it unless you intervene and fix it.
Tunneling occurs when only a portion of the wax around the wick melts while the candle is burning and the rest of the wax at the sides does not melt.
Instead of having the entire surface of the wax melt evenly, it will appear as though the flame is making a hole into the candle and creating an empty space which looks like a small, vertical tunnel. And that’s exactly why we call it tunneling.
Inside the tunnel, the wax directly below the flame melts very quickly into liquid form whereas the wax surrounding the melted pool remains completely hard. This worsens the tunneling over time.
Why does tunneling occur in candles ?
Tunneling usually happens when you don’t burn a new candle long enough the first time you use it. It could occur if the wick in the candles isn’t large enough, or is off-center.
People usually think that it must be an issue with the quality of the candle. While the quality does play a role in whether the candle would tunnel or not there is a whole lot of science behind it.
Some of the most common causes of candle tunneling are explained below. Having an understanding of why your candles tunnel, will help you prevent it in henceforward.
Irregular burning practices:
Candles should be burnt long enough so that the wax pool has enough time to reach the edges of the vessel of the candle. Extinguishing a candle too early is the most common way to lead to the formation of a tunnel. That’s because wax contains a certain amount of “memory.” It’s as simple as this. Think that your candle creates a memory and will now always burn in a similar manner. The burning pattern crystallizes in the candle’s memory and is followed by the candle till the wick gets finished unless we reset the memory.
Re-cooled wax isn’t as hard as it seems:
Wax isn’t always as “hard” as it seems. Even in its solid and unmelted state, wax continues to harden over time.
So if you only let the wax in the center of the candle melt before putting out the candle, then when you burn it the second time, only that center portion of wax will continue to melt throughout the candle. That’s because it’s comparatively softer than the wax beside it and requires less heat to melt again. The wax around the tunnel which did not melt the first time is harder compared to the center wax, so it won’t melt and that would lead to tunneling.
Incorrect wick size:
Another common cause of candle tunneling is using a wick that is too small for the wax volume or the width of the vessel. A wick which is too small will not be powerful enough to burn the wax to the edges. So the wick should always be of the appropriate size. Usual recommendation is ¾ th of an inch for most average sized candles.
Unsuitable wax blend:
Often we think that the type of wax used does not have any impact on candle tunneling. This is not true. Some waxes, like Soy Blend have been developed to be ‘harder’ which means it has a higher melting point, making it more suitable for warmer climates. Comparatively, Beeswax is ‘softer’ which makes it more appropriate for container candles or cooler climates.
It’s crucial that when you are choosing your wax, you choose one which is fit for the purpose of what you need and prevent issues like tunneling.
How to avoid tunneling ?
To prevent tunneling what you need to do is that you should burn your candle long enough each time you burn it so that the entire top part of wax is melted. This is extremely crucial the first time you burn your candle.
How long it takes to melt up the soft layer depends mostly on the candle size. A simple way to follow is to burn your candle for one hour per inch of its diameter. For normal mid sized candles you could burn them for 2-3 hours the first time you light them to avoid no uneven burning.
How to fix tunneling ?
To fix your already tunneled candles, what you need to do is melt all the wax surrounding the tunnel. This is required to be done to make the surface even once again. Your candle will look extremely pretty after being fixed and here is how you can do it.
If the sinkhole is extremely deep you need to melt the whole wax and reset the candle.
But if the sinkhole is shallow and manageable you can make the tunneling go away without much effort.
Here are some ways to do this:
Option 1 – Use your hairdryer !
The hair dryer method is so simple and works extremely well to recover candle tunneling. But first things first. It is imperative that you should trim the wick and remove debris from the surface.
Now switch to the lowest setting in the hair dryer first and heat the entire surface. You must slowly switch to the higher setting of the dryer. You need to keep heating until you see the entire top surface melting. But you have to be extremely careful while doing this step. Do not start with the highest setting first. This might cause the melted hot wax to start flying around and get on your clothes or skin. After the melting has surrounded the whole surface, light the candle and let it burn for at least 30 minutes before blowing it off.
You should now let the wax harden for two days before burning it again. Do not burn it before this time. Even if the wax looks fully hardened to the naked eye, it is not so. Let it sit for 48 hours and then you can enjoy your fresh candle.
Option 2: The Aluminum Foil Method
Instead of using an external heat source, this method traps the candle’s own heat and uses it to achieve the effect of melting the extra wax and smoothing over the top layer.
- Now trim the wick and remove the debris from the tunnel. Now cover the top of the candle with an aluminum foil.
- Next cut a small opening of around 1-inch in the center of the aluminum foil.
- Now you have to remove the aluminum foil and light the wick. Now place the foil cover back on.
- You should allow the candle to burn for a few hours. This is to be done until the top surface of wax has completely melted and is looking smooth.
- Next set your candle aside. Let the wax harden over a few days to reach full hardness of the wax.
If your flame goes out when you put the foil on it means that the opening that you cut in the above method is too small for your candle. You will need to widen the hole a bit and try again until your flame stays lit.
These two methods will definitely fix your tunneling candle !
Happy burning !
