Post updated 8/23/2021
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I recently shared my candle re-wicking tutorial on my TikTok page: @glowasyougoblog
You can watch the video below!
When life gives you candle tunneling, you stick them in the oven and re-wick a candle!
What is “candle tunneling“? Candle tunneling occurs when a candle burns down the center, leaving hard wax around the edges of the container. This excess wax build up will prevent you from reaching your candle’s max burn time.
I have a confession. I am a candle addict. I have a drawer filled to the brim with candles in addition to the several candles currently on display around my apartment. Whew, feels good to get that one off my chest.
As a candle addict, I do not discriminate between luxury and inexpensive candles. However, I do hold my luxury candles to a higher standard. If I am spending $25+ on a single candle, I expect that candle to burn, baby burn.
While I have a stock pile of VOLUSPA, Yankee Candle, Bath&Body Works/ White Barn, and generic brands from Kroger and Homegoods, just to name a few, my first love has always been and will always be Capri Blue candles. This company knows how to make delicious smelling candles; and, their presentation is phenomenal.
My personal favorite scent is the infamous Volcano but honestly all of their scents are amazing. These are more than just a candle, they are an accent piece for your home. To top it off, these candles come in a variety of sizes, jars, colors, etc. Yes, I do admit to purchasing seasonal candle jars. The best part of all… Several vendors sell these Capri Blue candles! You can order directly through the Capri Blue website, but other vendors such as Anthropologie, Nordstrom, Altered State, Amazon and likely your hometown local gift shop or boutique carries them.
Thank you for attending my completely unsponsored and unpaid ad for Capri Blue candles. Now, back to your regularly scheduled program: re-wicking candles.
In addition to being a candle addict, I am also somewhat of a candle hoarder. My fellow candle lovers know what I am talking about. Your favorite candle has been a faithful companion and has literally made your senses tingle with joy! Unwilling to part with the dead, we store away our candles that have tunneled or those with a burned down wick. You may come across these candles during spring cleaning and be torn on what to do: throw away or leave in the drawer? This is a dilemma I have been wrestling with over the past year. Last summer I purchased these wicks (over 20,000 reviews) off of Amazon with the intent to re-wick my candles but never got around to it until now.
As I navigate this furlough period, I have decided each week to share a DIY or activity I have tried out! I hope this period serves as comic relief for some and slightly educational for others 😉
How to rewick and repurpose your luxury candle
I do not profess to be an expert here, but I did do a quick Google search before beginning.
That counts for something right?
Disclaimer: My main issue was that my candles had tunneled and the wicks burnt down. I still had a significant amount of wax left in the original jars. If your candles has burned down correctly and you only have wax leftovers, I recommend repurposing this wax into a smaller container so you will have an extended burn time. You can use smaller mercury glass jars, tin cans, etc.
1. Set oven to 175 degrees. You want the oven warm enough to melt the wax but not hot enough that it shatters your jar.
I chose to use the oven, however you could also do this on the stove top. If you decide to use the stove, place the jar in a pot and fill the pot with a few inches of water. Melt wax over low heat. Be sure to not over heat as you do not want to burn off the delicious scent you are so desperately trying to preserve!
2. Get cookie sheet and line with wax or aluminum paper. This well help prevent any messes later in the process.
3.Place candle on cookie sheet and stick in oven Everything I read online said about 5 minutes until the wax is melted. It took my candles about 15 minutes to be completely melted down but I set timer and checked on them every 5 minutes. The timing is likely dependent on the size of your candle and the quantity of wax.
The next steps will be somewhat dependent on what your end goal is.
- If you are wanting to take the wax from your current jar and put it in another jar, I recommend taking the new wick and hot gluing it to the base of the empty jar or container. This will prevent the wick from moving during the wax re-hardening process.
- I am difficult and decided I wanted to keep my candles in their current jars. I could have taken the time to empty the melted wax into a cup so I could glue the new wick to the base, but it was 11:00pm and I was 1 margarita deep so I decided to just wing it.
4. Remove the old wick from the candle. I used pilers and easily pulled the old wick out and threw it away. You could have done this prior to sticking candle in over but I did not want to throw away any unnecessary amount of delicious smelling wax.
5. If you did not already glue the new wick to the base of an emptied jar, take the new wick and place it in the melted wax. Make sure it is pressed down to the base of the jar.
6. Stabilize wick to ensure it does not begin to move during the re-hardening process.
…This is where things got interesting for me!
- I did not plan this step ahead so I panicked and had my mother grab me random items in the kitchen to help stabilize the wick (see picture below)
- The fork actually worked really well at holding the wick in place and then I used a cooking skewer to prevent the fork from slipping out of place. I don’t think there is a perfect solution here, you just want to use something to keep the wick upright.
7. Allow candles to cool and completely re-harden. Since I started this project at 11:00pm, I let mine sit overnight.
8. Cut wick down. It is recommended to keep candle wicks at 1/8 inch at all times. I just eye-balled this and snipped it down.
9. Voila! No need to pitch a candle with plenty of leftover wax! Your candle is now ready to be lit!
If your candle has completely burned down but you can’t bring yourself to throw out the glass jars, be sure to check out my video below on how to repurpose old candle jars!
There you have it ya’ll! Stay tuned for my next DIY project!
Stay healthy, safe and sane!
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