The result of tunneling is uneven burning and it will look as though the flame is burning a tunnel down the centre. As the tunnel gets deeper, the flame won’t be able to get enough oxygen to burn and it will cause the candle to extinguish – even though it is still surrounded by wax.

The best way to avoid tunnelling is to burn the candle for long enough to let the entire surface melt. The time this takes depends on the size of the candle, our smaller candles should get a melt pool around 1 hour and our larger ones around 2 hours.

One of the main reasons a candle will tunnel is an incorrect wick size, however our candles have been tested thoroughly and we’re confident that tunnelling won’t happen naturally.

If you need to extinguish a candle before a full pool has been established, this can create an uneven surface, causing the candle to tunnel in future burns and reducing the overall burn time of the candle.

If you believe a candle is starting to tunnel, ensure you have enough time to leave it burning in a safe place and where you can keep an eye on it. Allowing it to burn slightly longer, should help to smooth the surface ready to be burned again ‘fresh’, so you can enjoy your candle. You can also manually remove some of the wax surrounding the wick and with the goal to smooth out the surface before relighting.

If you’ve found that a candle you have has tunnelled, one way to save what you can is to remove the wax from the jar, such as scooping it out with a spoon (which you can easily clean with hot, soapy water as our rapeseed and coconut wax is water soluble) and placing it onto a wax melter – using a tea light to melt the wax down, allowing for the scent to release. While this method won’t last as long as specifically created wax melts – it’s a great way to save what you can from a candle that’s tunnelled.

If you have any questions about our Rapeseed and Coconut wax candles, tea lights or wax melts – please get in touch, we’re always happy to help or you can browse the shop.

If you have any questions about our Rapeseed and Coconut wax candles, tea lights or wax melts – please get in touch, we’re always happy to help or you can browse the shop.

If you have any questions about our Rapeseed and Coconut wax candles, tea lights or wax melts – please get in touch, we’re always happy to help or you can browse the shop.

Rapeseed and Coconut wax is a more eco-friendly wax than Soy or Paraffin. Blended from Rapeseed oil and Coconut Oil in Europe, free from synthetic material and preservatives and the blend we use contains no added beeswax, palm oil or paraffin wax.

Rapeseed and Coconut wax has a lower melting point than paraffin wax making it safer to work with and handle. We melt our wax in small batches allowing for a fully controlled candle, tea light and wax melt creation process.

Soy Wax

The demand for Soy wax has sharply risen over the past few years, leading to a dangerous amount of deforestation in most areas where it’s grown, this includes the removal of large green areas to establish new soy fields. We started with The Northern Wood Company with Soy, but with the rise of deforestation, we felt the need to shift away from Soy and look at alternatives.

Paraffin Wax

Paraffin wax is a by-product of the oil industry, it’s been said that this wax can give off unwelcome and nasty chemicals while burning, but we find that isn’t the case through our research. However, as the wax is a by-product of the oil industry, we’ve chosen not to use it as our wax.

We will never use a wax blend that isn’t sustainable our rapeseed and Coconut wax is vegan and 100% plant-based. It’s also water-soluble, meaning with some soapy, warm/hot water, the wax will dissolve allowing you to easily recycle or re-use your vessel if you choose to.

With all of these going for it, we classify it as sustainable. We also ensure all of our shipping boxes and packing materials are sustainable – no plastics are used and our packing peanuts can be re-used, placed into the compost bin or simply dissolved in water.

1. It’s 100% vegan, bio-degradable and more sustainable than both Soy and Paraffin.
2. An overall cleaner burn, meaning the candle burns down at a more consistent rate, at a more consistent temperature. This also means a slightly slower burn, so it can last longer than Paraffin candles.
3. A much-improved cold and hot scent throw, scent throw means the amount of scent given when the candle is either cold (waiting to be burned) or hot (when it is lit/melting). This wax is great for both throws.

Each of our candles, wax melts and tea lights are poured by hand, using this wax and high-quality fragrance oils to achieve a great range of scents, making it easier to set the perfect mood.

If you have any questions about our Rapeseed and Coconut wax candles, tea lights or wax melts – please get in touch, we’re always happy to help or you can browse the shop.

The important first burn

During the first candle burn, you’ll want to ensure a full pool has formed (when the melted wax has reached the edges of the container) – this prevents an uneven burn in future uses.

Never leave a candle burning for longer than 4 hours – this can lead to overheating or wick movement, reducing the candle’s overall life.

General tips and candle safety

• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Do not move a candle before the wax has cooled – the container may be hot
• Place your candle out of reach of children and pets.
• Blow out the candle lightly or snuff it out if possible.
• Do not burn a candle on or near anything that can catch fire.
• Burn the candle on an even surface.

The end of the candle

When your candle comes to the end of its life, keep around 10mm of wax at the bottom of the jar. This helps to keep the base of the vessel from overheating.

Once cooled, you can scoop the remaining wax out, using it in a wax melter. You can then clean the container with hot and soapy water, remove the wick holder and reuse or recycle the jar.

After your first burn, ensure the wick is trimmed to around 5mm before lighting, allowing the candle to burn gently.

A wick that’s too long can smoke and burn the candle quicker, but too short could start to tunnel, reducing the life of the candle.

If you notice a ‘mushroom’ at the top of the wick, allow the candle to cool and trim it down – this is a build up on the wick and reduces the effectiveness of the wick.

• Remove the tree stump shaped melt from the packaging and place it in the well of your melt burner.
• Use with an unscented tea light or an electric burner.
• Only burn the melt on a level, fire-resistant surface.
• Do not burn for more than 4 hours at a time.
• Do not put fingers or hands into the unit.
• Keep out of reach of children and pets.
• Do not leave unattended.The burner may become hot.
• Do not touch while in use.

Cleaning a wax melter

Once a melt has reached the end of its life, usually over 2 – 4 melts, you’ll need to remove the wax from the melter. While we recommend using tea light melters, powerful, electric melters can also be used.

• • Electric Melters
    • If the wax is still hot, leave it to cool for a little while and then scoop up the wax with a paper towel and place it into a bin.
    • If the wax is fully cooled, you can either turn the warmer on for a few minutes and do the above trick or you may be able to apply a small amount of force to the wax on one edge and it should come out in a block.
  • Tea light melter
    • Let the wax fully cool, apply a small amount of force to the wax on one edge and it should come out in a block. Alternative, you can place the melter in a freezer for around 10 minutes, making it easier to remove the wax.

If you have any questions about our Rapeseed and Coconut wax candles, tea lights or wax melts – please get in touch, we’re always happy to help or you can browse the shop.