How to Care for Your Soy Candle
A hand-poured soy candle behaves a little differently to the mass-produced kind, and a few small habits make a real difference to how long it lasts and how good it smells while it burns. Here's what we tell every customer.
Let it rest before the first light
Every candle leaves our Dublin studio freshly poured. That means the wax hasn't fully finished curing, and the fragrance oil hasn't had time to bind properly through it. Light it too soon and you'll get a fainter scent and a patchier burn than the candle is capable of. Give it at least three weeks from the day it arrives — longer if you can manage the wait. It's the single biggest thing that affects how a soy candle performs.
Trim the wick every time
Before each burn, trim the wick down to about 6mm. A long wick burns hotter and messier, and on a sculptural shape that usually means more dripping than you'd like. It's a ten-second habit that keeps the flame smaller, steadier, and easier to control.
Don't burn it for hours on end
Three to four hours at a time is the sweet spot. Soy wax has a lower melting point than paraffin, which is part of why it throws scent so well — but it also means a long burn can create a deeper wax pool than the piece is designed for. Shorter sessions, more often, gets you a cleaner result.
Give it somewhere sensible to sit
These are sculptural pieces first, so they're designed to be looked at as much as lit. A few of our shapes — the busts, the florals, anything with fine detail — will drip a little as they burn, which is completely normal for a candle this shape. Stand it on a flat, heat-resistant tray or dish so the wax has somewhere to go, and keep it away from draughts, direct sunlight and anything flammable.
Know when to stop
Once you're down to around 1cm of wax remaining, it's time to stop burning and let the piece rest as a finished object. Use a snuffer, or gently press the wick down into the wax, rather than blowing it out — it avoids hot wax splatter and keeps the surface tidy.
Storage between burns
Keep your candle in a cool, dry spot out of direct sunlight when it's not lit. Sunlight and heat are the two things most likely to soften the shape or fade the colour over time, and a bit of care here keeps the sculptural detail crisp for much longer.
None of this is complicated — it's mostly just patience with the first burn, and a little attention after that. Do that much, and a Living Light candle will burn beautifully right through. Have a question we haven't covered? Check our FAQ page.