Candle Care: Prevent Candle Tunnelling

Even if you’re not familiar with the term “candle tunnelling,” you’ve likely encountered this issue before. Candle tunnelling is a common but preventable problem that occurs when a candle isn’t burned carefully. It’s when a hole forms down the centre, leaving unused wax at the edges.

In this blog, we’ll explain what candle tunnelling is, and steps to prevent it from happening again.

Whether you’re a candle enthusiast or simply enjoy a cosy ambiance, this knowledge will ensure your candles burn evenly and beautifully.

WHAT DOES “CANDLE TUNNELLING” MEAN?

Tunnelling occurs when only a small part of the wax surrounding the wick melts while the candle is lit. Instead of melting evenly across the wax surface, it looks as if the flame is digging a vertical tunnel in the centre of the candle, hence the name.

Within the tunnel, the wax directly under the flame quickly melts into liquid, while the surrounding wax remains hard. This causes the tunnelling to get worse and worse over time. As soon as the wick penetrates deeper into the surrounding wax, the flame no longer gets enough oxygen to sustain itself and the candle goes out.

Tunnelling is bad because it can drastically shorten the overall burning time of your candle!

Normally, the burning time depends on the total volume of wax in the container. Generally, larger candles have a longer burn time. However, when a candle tunnel is created, only a fraction of the wax is actually consumed before the wick reaches the bottom.

As a consequence, all of the remaining wax that makes up the hard, outer ring surrounding the tunnel sadly goes to waste.

WHY DOES TUNNELLING HAPPEN?

People sometimes mistake tunnelling as an issue of candle quality.

It’s true that tunnelling is more likely to occur in cheap candles compared to higher quality candles. However, the truth is that tunnelling can happen to ANY candle — even the most expensive ones.

At the Price’s Candles , we always emphasize how important it is to burn the candle long enough to let the entire surface of the candle melt before blowing or snuffing it out. This usually takes at least an hour or two, depending on the size of the candle.

If you don’t do this, you’re almost guaranteed to get tunnelling

The first burn is very important as wax has a ‘memory’. The wax that has already melted becomes softer than the wax that has not, and therefore on the second burn will melt quicker than any harder surrounding wax. The melt area will continue to shrink until the melted wax eventually smothers the wick and the candle becomes un-burnable, leaving a lot of wax around the edges.

The other cause of candle tunnelling is when the wick is too small for the size of the candle.

If the wick is too small, it might not be able to generate enough heat to melt the wax all the way at the edge of the candle. As a result, even if you give your candle plenty of time on the first burn, you may still end up getting tunnelling.

This is a problem with the design of the candle, which is why tunnelling is more common in the mass-produced candles that use cheaper wicks. The more expensive, luxury candles are usually designed with more care, making sure that the wicks are of higher quality and properly sized to the diameter of the candle.

But again, tunnelling can still happen in even high-end candles if you don’t burn them properly. Make sure you allow enough time on the first burn to melt the entire surface evenly.

HOW TO PREVENT TUNNELLING WHEN BURNING YOUR CANDLES

The best way to fix candle tunnelling is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

To prevent tunnelling, all you need to do is burn your candle long enough each time so that the entire top surface of wax is melted. This is especially important the first time you burn your candle!

How long that takes depends mostly on the size of the candle. A good rule of thumb to remember is that you should burn your candle for one hour per every inch of its diameter. So, if your candle has a diameter of 3 inches, you should plan to let it burn for 3 hours before putting it out.

We hope this guide to preventing candle tunnelling will help you enjoy candles that last longer and burn more beautifully.