you've made your soy wax candles, but they don't look quite right. What went wrong? How do you fix it? Is it normal? Don't worry, we've got you covered. We've compiled the most common issues you might encounter making soy wax candles, and have plenty of recommendations to get you right back on track.
Tunneling
Tunneling occurs when a candle wick consumes too much fuel (wax+fragrance) too quickly. Instead of a slowly forming, wide melt pool that extends to the edges of a container, a narrow melt pool forms in the center and burns down quickly, leaving a large amount of wax on the sides of the container.
Increase your wick size
If the wick is too small it cannot efficiently burn off all of the fuel (wax+fragrance) and generate enough heat to form a good melt pool. Try increasing your wick by one size in the same series.
Decrease your wick size
If the wick is too large, the wick will consume too much fuel too quickly, causing it to generate too much heat and melt right down the middle of your candle. This is a less common occurrence and often a harder form of tunneling to recognize. If you have tried going up a wick size and the melt pool size gets smaller, try sizing down instead.
How do you fix a tunneled candle?
Here are a few tricks to fix a tunneled candle, though it may take a bit of persistence that you may (or may not) feel worth it.
- take all of your wax that's taller than your wick area and simply remove it. This wax can be re-purposed and made good use of or tossed, if you don't care to get use of it.
- dig some wax away from the wick. This is because the wick has burned fiercely downward without the fuel (the wax pool) that keeps it burning at a steady pace, causing the wick to become stubby and too short to do its job properly.
- a better solution would be to turn your candle on its side and use a long lighter to reach down into the jar and carefully use the heat of the lighter to melt that wax that's around the wick and discard the wax that's running off the candle. Once you've done this, it's important to let the wax pool reach the edge before attempting to extinguish your flame.
FAQs
A candle's wick needs to be just the right size—usually about ¼ of an inch—for an optimal burn. On a larger candle, a short wick will have a harder time warming the wax from edge to edge. If the wick of your candle is shorter than ½ inch and tunnels are forming, it may be too short.
Why is my candle burning a hole in the middle? ›
Tunneling occurs when a candle wick consumes too much fuel (wax+fragrance) too quickly. Instead of a slowly forming, wide melt pool that extends to the edges of a container, a narrow melt pool forms in the center and burns down quickly, leaving a large amount of wax on the sides of the container.
How to fix candle tunneling when making candles? ›
Trim the wick and remove any debris inside the tunnel. Cover the top of the candle with aluminum foil. Cut or fold a small opening (around 1-inch) in the center of the aluminum foil. Remove the aluminum foil, light the wick, then place the foil cover back on.
Why did my candle dry with a hole in the middle? ›
So imagine the liquid wax starting to harden and "sticking" to the edge of the candle jar and the wick. Meanwhile, the still-cooling liquid wax under the surface that's not touching the edge of the jar or the wick continues to shrink and dip down, eventually forming a cavity as it hardens. And voila, a sinkhole.
Can you microwave a candle to fix tunneling? ›
Set your oven to 80 Degrees Celsius or 175 Fahrenheit. Once hot, place your candle in the oven for 2 minutes. This will evenly melt the top of your candle and return it to its smooth, and even former glory! NOTE: Do not put your candles in a microwave oven!
How do I stop my candles sinking in the middle? ›
Trim wicks to 1/4 inch every time they get too long (usually every two or three burns). This helps prevent tunneling by removing excess wax from around the edges of the burning area.
Why did my candle crack down the middle? ›
Cracking. Finding a very thin crack in a circle about 1" from the wick is common. This is caused by the combination of the wax shrinking slightly as it cools and tiny air bubbles stuck in the bottom of the container. After the wax hardens, it sinks a bit where the air bubble left a void.
How to fix a sinkhole? ›
Tips for Filling in the Sinkhole
- Clean the area. ...
- Try to determine the extent of the hole by careful excavation and probing.
- Incrementally fill the depression with fill soil that has a high amount of clay and low amount of sand. ...
- Continue this process until the depression is flush with the ground.
As melted candle wax cools after it's been poured, it begins to shrink, pulling away from the sides of the container and the wick. This pulling results in the wax caving in, often near the wick on the top of the candle. To prevent sinkholes, candles should be poured at the specified temperature for their wax.
How to prevent sinkholes? ›
The combination of gravity, loss of buoyancy and water pressure can activate a collapse. By keeping water tables high, water conservation rules and drought restrictions are tools to help prevent sinkholes from occurring.
You can fix a tunneled candle by wrapping a piece of aluminum foil around the edges and simply letting it burn. Make sure the foil hangs over the built-up wax areas, but leave an opening in the center so the wick can still burn properly. After a couple of hours, the wax should melt and even out the surface.
What does it mean when a candle has a hole in it? ›
Sink holes appear on natural waxes when the wax goes back to it's solid form. So imagine that when the candle is cooling, the wax sticks to the mould and wick first, creating that tunnel called sink hole.
What to do with a candle when the wick is gone? ›
In the event that the wick is actually broken and impossible to use again, consider some DIY options so that you can continue using your candle as normal. Jones recommends using twine or even tightly rolled-up newspaper in place of the wick as makeshift alternatives.
How to fix a short wick on a candle? ›
If the wick is too short even to light, melt a bit of the wax with a heat gun and pour it onto a paper plate. You can also scrape out room-temperature wax using a butter knife to expose the wick so you can light it.
