You’ve bought the candle you’ve had your eye on for a long time. There is a pleasant aroma, and you are pleased with the results. However, you notice that the candle is not burning efficiently and it looks like the candle is tunneling.

The process of tunneling candles means that you will not be able to enjoy the full burn and aroma potential of the candle. Find out how to fix candle tunneling by following our advice below.

What is candle tunneling?

Candle tunneling happens when a candle burns down its center, leaving hard wax on the outside. This wasted wax means your candle won’t achieve its maximum burn time which is a real waste.

As the flame burrows further down, the wick will become more to light and eventually be drowned by melting wax. Unfortunately, candle tunneling can happen to any candle regardless of the quality or price.

Thankfully, there are several things you can do to help your scented candles burn evenly and efficiently, leaving as little residual wax as possible.

How to Fix Candle Tunneling

Now let’s talk about How To Fix Candle Tunneling, so here are 7 methods through which you can fix candle tunneling in just 5 minutes.

Method 1: Use a hairdryer to fix candle tunneling

1. It is possible to utilize this strategy to stop a candle from entirely tunneling in the early stages of usage if you are worried about it.

2. Choose the Low setting on your hair dryer

3. This will prevent the wax from dripping onto your furniture and causing a mess. After that, carefully move your hairdryer around the wax that isn’t melting. Eventually, you’ll see that the wax begins to melt and soften as the general surface begins to smooth out.

Method 2: Use the oven to fix the candle tunneling

This method, like the hairdryer method, works if tunneling is discovered early enough.

1. Blow out the candle and then place the candle in the grill and lower the heat down to the lowest setting. Then watch as it melts to the appropriate level.

2. Using a grill to melt and smooth out the top of the candle is preferable to using a lighter to soften and smooth out the whole candle.

Method 3: Trim the wax

Trimming your candle’s wick regularly is something you’ve undoubtedly heard of. However, you may not be aware that you can cut your wax into smaller pieces, too. Using this method, you may reset your candle by removing the unmelted wax and leveling it yourself.

1. You can use a clean spoon or butter knife

2. You can put the pieces around the candle as needed.

Method 4: Turn it into wax melts

If all else fails and you’ve got an old candle that’s tunneled severely, you can still get the most out of the aroma by saving the wax and melting it later.

1. Put the candle’s glass in a saucepan of simmering water on the stove at the lowest setting to do this.

2. When the candle gets hot enough, it starts to melt into liquid wax.

3. With heat-resistant mitts, carefully pour it into the silicone mold of your choice and let it cool completely. They’re ready to use after they’ve cooled down.

Pro tip: Don’t overheat it. You just need to heat it to a point where you can pour it.

Method 5: Replacing the wick

If you want to learn how to create candles at home or just experiment with the concept, this is an excellent choice. Although it might be a lot of fun if you like a good challenge.

1. To begin, you’ll need a wick.

2. Follow the steps in our candle making guide

3. A fresh wick for the candle should be used instead of the old one.

Method 6: The foil method

Use foil to increase the amount of heat retained at the top to melt the hard wax on the side of the candle. It’s a simple procedure, but it must be supervised. Be careful not to burn yourself on the foil, as it may get rather hot.

1. This method allows the candle’s heat to linger in the jar and melt the wax around the edges.

2. As your candle burns for approximately an hour, you’ll have an evenly distributed pool of wax and a re-set candle.

3. Remove the foil with caution, as it will be quite hot.

Method 7: Use a candle warmer to fix candle tunneling

Alternatively, you may have to accept that your candle cannot be saved even after using the methods listed above. However, as long as you don’t mind the waxy aroma, there are methods for you to enjoy the experience.

1. There is no need for a flame when using a candle warmer since it melts the wax and releases the smell without the need for a flame.

2. Using it in combination slowly heats the wax and enables the aroma to permeate your whole home or office.

Method 8: Use a tealight oil burner

A tealight burner may be used to warm and melt the candle, as well as distribute the scent.

How to prevent candle tunneling from happening

Burn the candle for at least 3 hours

It’s not a hard and fast rule, but you must allow the candle to melt. Before melting anything else, burning for too long might create issues because of insufficient time to dissolve the candle wax.

1. There are times when you need to quickly extinguish a burning candle. That’s perfectly OK.

2. When using a candle for the first time, allow it to burn for at least three hours.

3. Unless you let it burn for an extended period, your candle may start tunneling as a result.

Use the right wick size

The irregular wick size is also a big contributor to tunneling. So when making candles, it’s important to test the wax and containers you’re using to determine the proper wick dimensions and quantity.

1. To accommodate the next candle, just increase the wick size if your design is tunneling. This is a common remedy for wicks that are too small.

2. Don’t forget to do a burn test before you commit to anything.

Takeaway

Tunneling of candles is a common problem that may be easily fixed. Well-made candles can usually remedy the problem, but there are times when you need to take action on how to fix candle tunneling.