LPT: how to burn your scented candle evenly and avoid 'tunneling'

Have you ever had this problem with a candle where the wax burns unevenly? A tunnel begins to form around the wick and the wax never melts from the sides. You end up wasting half the wax of your expensive scented candle.

There's a simple trick to that. You want to allow the entire surface of the candle to melt before you blow it out. This is especially true for the first time you light it, but helpful on consecutive burns as well. Not all candles are created equal, and sometimes it takes a little encouragement to melt the surface. In those cases I will use a bit of aluminum foil to create a teepee around it to trap the heat in.

It usually will take 2-4 hours to achieve this which is the ideal length of time to be burning a scented candle anyway. Burn it too long and you create soot problems. This happens when the wick burns up too much and it starts to fray and curl up at the ends. It's recommended that you blow it out, and after the wax has cooled you can use scissors or even a special tool to trim off the ends of the wick and remove them. If the charred bits, or any other debris like dust or bugs gets in there, the candle will begin to burn sooty and it will flicker and leave char on the glass. So keep the lid on and keep the wax clean.