⏳ How Long Should You Burn a Candle?

The simple rule that saves your scent (and your wax)

🕯 Ever light a candle and come back to a mess?

Maybe it tunneled. Or there’s a weird rim of wax that never melted. Or worse—it lost its scent halfway through the jar. If any of that sounds familiar, here’s the truth:

How long you burn your candle matters.
And yes—there is a right amount of time to burn it.

🔥 So, how long should you burn a candle?

1 to 4 hours at a time. That’s the sweet spot. Here’s why:

⏰ Burn it too short?

You risk tunneling—when wax melts only around the wick and leaves a crater. This wastes wax, shortens burn time, and ruins your candle’s beautiful look.

🔥 Burn it too long?

The flame gets too hot, causing:

• Scent to burn off too fast

• Wick to mushroom or lean

• Wax to pool unevenly

• Jar or pillar to overheat or crack

In short: longer ≠ better.

📏 The 1-Inch Rule for Pillars and Jars

Especially for mottling paraffin pillar candles (like ours), wax needs time to warm edge to edge.

Here’s the rule of thumb:
🕯 Burn 1 hour for every inch in diameter.
So if your candle is 3 inches wide, aim for about a 3-hour burn each time to get a full melt pool.

💡 This keeps the wax memory even and prevents tunneling.

🧽 Don’t Forget to Trim Your Wick

Wick trimming matters just as much as burn time.
Before each burn:

• Trim the wick to ¼ inch

• Remove any soot balls (a.k.a. "mushroom tops")

• Let wax fully cool between sessions

This ensures:

• Cleaner burn

• Safer flame

• Slower wax use

• Better scent throw

💡 Bonus: How to Fix a Tunneling Candle

Already tunneled your candle? It’s okay—we’ve all been there.

Here’s how to fix it:

1. Wrap foil around the rim and leave a small opening at the top

2. Burn the candle for 1–2 hours

3. The heat will melt the walls of wax and even things out

Still wonky? Try scooping out the edges with a spoon and letting it re-level next burn.

🕯 Why We Recommend Controlled Burns

At Trinktopia, we craft every candle for a clean, long-lasting burn—but it still needs proper care.

Because we use:

• Mottling paraffin wax (known for aesthetic beauty + scent throw)

• Soy-paraffin blends (for our creamy jar candles)

• High-quality, USA-made fragrance oils

...our candles are designed to give hours of enjoyment—as long as you treat them right.

🧼 Takeaway: Burn Smart, Burn Better

✔ 1–4 hour burn sessions
✔ Trim your wick
✔ Let the wax melt fully edge to edge
✔ Don’t walk away for hours

You’ll get better scent, longer use, and no more half-melted wax blobs.

👉 Shop Our Hand-Poured Candles
Because your flame deserves a little finesse.