This Is How to Make Your Candles Last Longer

It’d be a perfect world if we could light a candle and never have to worry about the wax melting away. I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s an absolute blast shopping for new candle scents—and I love to burn Christmas candles in December. But sometimes… I wish I could get more bang for my wax-meltin’ buck.

If you’ve ever felt the same way, I’ve got the most wonderful candle hacks for you!

How to Make Candles Last Longer

Here are a few tried-and-true methods to make candles last longer. You know we love to see it.

Place the Candle in Your Freezer

It might sound silly, but it’ll help increase the lifespan of your candle in the long run. Basically, placing a candle in the freezer helps freeze the wax which causes it to melt much more slowly. While freezers are primarily used for food items, you can use them for a handful of non-food things, too!

The thinner the candle, the less time it needs to spend in the freezer. A thicker candle may need between six to eight hours while a thin, tapered candle may only need about an hour. Don’t worry about it spending too much time in there, thought. No matter how long it spends in the ice chest, the candle will be just fine!

Sprinkle Salt into the Liquid Wax

Burn a candle long enough to collect a little pool of wax around the wick, then get ready to work quickly. Take a bit of table salt and sprinkle it into the wax. You may even mix with a toothpick to combine thoroughly.

Why table salt? It will slow down the rate of your wax melting, thus increasing the lifespan of your favorite candle. Isn’t kitchen science the best?

Feel free to combine both methods to increase the total time for your candle. And remember—always trim the wick! It prevents candle wick mushrooming and longer wicks tend to speed up the burning process.

Let Your Candles Burn

We hate that mocking wall of wax on the inner walls of our candles. How does that happen? It’s due to blowing your candle out before the wax has sufficiently melted. By allowing the candle to burn for longer, you’ll get a pool of hot wax around that should span the diameter of the glass.

Doing so allows the candle wax to melt evenly, and you won’t end up with those wasted wax walls! Keep your candles away from drafty areas that could cause uneven burning, too. Also check out how to fix candle tunneling (and prevent it from happening again.)

Have a candle jar or tin you love? Here’s how to get candle wax out of a jar.