A candle jar is a thing that lives by its circumstances. It changes with the draught in the room, with the length of the wick, with how long you burn it each round. So a wax surface running to one side, or a wick going out mid-burn, is common with jar candles, and almost every time it can be put right.
We write this exactly as we handle it in the workshop, because the jars here do the same at times. Soy wax blended by ZUNGZA remembers the edge it has melted out to, so every correction rests on one thing: helping the wax surface melt evenly again.
When the wax surface runs to one side
This usually starts with a draught. A door often opened, an air-conditioning vent, a fan some way off; that is all it takes for the flame to lean and that side to melt more. The first thing to do is move it, find a place with less draught, and then burn one round longer than usual, about three hours, so the side still standing high has time to melt down with it.
If a rim of wax is still clinging to the wall after a round, use the back of a spoon to press that high wax gently towards the middle while it is still soft and warm. The wax will melt into the pool in the centre on the next burn, and the surface returns to level.
There is another way that works very well for jars already far out of true. Take a piece of foil, wrap it around the rim of the cup leaving an opening in the middle, and burn for about thirty minutes. The heat held in the cup will melt the rim of wax on the wall down, and you remove the foil once the surface looks even.
When the wick goes out mid-burn or the flame keeps shrinking
A wick going out mid-burn usually says one thing: the wick is drowning in the melt pool. This happens when the wick has burned shorter than it needs to be, or when the burn has been so long that the melt pool has deepened. Blow it out, let it cool, then pour a little of the liquid wax off into a paper box, leaving a moderate layer of wax. Once the wax sets, the tip of the wick comes clear and you can light it as normal.
If the flame keeps shrinking and then dies, check the height of the wick. About five millimetres is the easiest working height; shorter and the flame has no road up, longer and the flame runs tall and gives off soot. With a new jar, on the first burn let it go until the wax melts evenly out to the wall of the cup, usually about two hours, because that stretch lays the ground for every burn afterwards.
As for the wax surface sinking in the middle after cooling, which many of you ask about, that is a familiar character of soy wax. It contracts as it cools, and each jar contracts in its own way depending on the room temperature at the time. On the next burn the sunken part will melt and the surface fills out again, so this is normal for a candle made from plant wax.
A few questions you often send us
What do I do if the candle burns to one side
Move it somewhere with less draught, burn one long round of about three hours, and press the high wax gently towards the middle while it is still warm. For a jar far out of true, wrapping foil around the rim for about thirty minutes is the quick way.
How do I deal with a wick drowning in wax
Blow it out, pour a little of the liquid wax off into a paper box, and once the wax sets the tip of the wick comes clear and you can light it again.
Is a wax surface sinking in the middle a problem
This is a familiar character of soy wax as it cools. On the next burn the surface will melt evenly and fill out again.
Read more the story of black marks on the wall of the cup and a wick, soy wax in a candle jar, and how to use up a candle jar.