Reasons Your Candle Won’t Stay Lit
The soft flicker of a candle’s flame can evoke a myriad of emotions, creating an environment that is warm, inviting and intricately beautiful. However, the tranquility can be frustratingly disrupted when your candle won’t stay lit. You’ve probably found yourself in this predicament before; your once perfect flame keeps going out and it’s as exasperating as a beautiful symphony abruptly ending mid-note.
So why is it that your beloved candle burns out so quickly? One culprit may lie in the length of your wick.
A wick that is too long will often lead to a situation where the candle keeps going out. This happens because an excessively lengthy wick will produce a disproportionately large flame which ends up consuming too much wax at once.
The result? Your candle going out by itself over and over again.
Trimming the wick can save you this frustration, but one must tread cautiously here as well; cut it too short and you’ll encounter another obstacle – the elusive problem where your candlewick won’t light at all! A short wick struggles to absorb enough melted wax to sustain a good burn so if you find yourself constantly relighting your candles then perhaps you’ve got a case of the “short wicks.”
1. Your Candle Wick is Too Long
You might be surprised to find out that a candle’s wick can, in fact, be too long. But how does the length of a wick affect whether your candle stays lit? Let’s delve into this. When you light the wick of a candle, the heat of the flame melts the wax near the wick.
This liquid wax is drawn up into the wick where the heat of the flame vaporizes it, producing hot gas which reacts with oxygen in air to form heat and light. However, when your candlewick is too long, it struggles to draw up enough melted wax fuel to maintain a steady flame.
This could result in your candle going out by itself or flickering constantly. Additionally, a long wick tends to produce more soot and smoke- an unsightly and unfavorable outcome for any candle lover.
It can cause unsteady burning leading to an issue where your candle won’t stay lit. If you’ve ever found yourself asking why your “candle keeps going out,” an overly lengthy wick may indeed be your culprit. Solving this problem is relatively simple: trim your wicks!
Before lighting every time ensure that you shorten them to about 1/4 inch in length using scissors or a specialized wick trimmer. Wick maintenance is key if you don’t want your candle burning out prematurely or experiencing situations where “your candlewick won’t light.”
If you’re still having trouble with your candles after trimming their long rebellious strands – remember patience pays off! Candles are delicate creations requiring attention and care for them to burn efficiently and beautifully.
2. Your Candle Wick is Too Short
While we can all agree on the mesmerizing allure of a softly glowing candle, it’s worth mentioning that not all candles are created equal. The peculiarity of your candle going out by itself may be attributed to one simple thing—the wick being excessively short.
It might seem paradoxical; after all, how could something so insignificant as the length of a tiny string embedded in wax cause such an issue? Believe it or not, the length of your wick plays a crucial role in how well your candle burns.
Picture this: you’re settling down for a cozy night in, ready to enjoy the ethereal brilliance and soothing scent emitted by your favorite candle when suddenly- it won’t light! This could be because the wick is too short.
When your candle wick is too short, it might not get enough wax to sustain a burn. Consequently, you may find yourself wrestling with matches or lighter as you watch in exasperation as the flame flickers out time and time again.
Moreover, another common issue for a candle that won’t stay lit is when there’s an excess amount of melted wax dousing the flame prematurely—a phenomenon often referred to as ‘drowning.’ However, this typically occurs more due to short wicks since they can’t stand tall enough against the pool of melted wax surrounding them. It’s like trying to swim with weights tied around your ankles—it’s boundless struggle till you’re extinguished.
So next time you wonder why your candle keeps going out or why your apparently new candle burns out quickly even though it hasn’t been used much—check the wick! If it resembles a tiny stub barely peeking over its waxen surroundings—chances are that’s precisely where your problem lies!
3. Your Candle Wick is Drowning
Have you ever been in a situation where your candle won’t stay lit, almost as if it were deliberately snuffing itself out? This can be exceptionally exasperating, particularly when you’re trying to create a soothing ambiance in your home.
Many times, the problem lies with a drowned wick. Picture this: you’re relaxing at home, perhaps reading your favorite book or enjoying a quiet dinner, and the candle that’s supposed to add to this tranquil setting keeps going out unexpectedly.
It’s almost like it has a mind of its own! Often, what’s happening is that your candle wick won’t light because it’s drowning – and by ‘drowning’, I mean engulfed by melted wax.
When a candle burns, the wax near the wick melts and is drawn up into the wick to fuel the flame. However, if there’s too much melted wax (maybe because the candle has been burning for too long), then this excess liquid can entirely cover or ‘drown’ the wick.
This prevents oxygen from reaching it and consequently suffocates the flame. The result?
Your once flickering beacon of serenity ends up being yet another frustration as your candle keeps going out. In some scenarios though, an unkept wick might also be a culprit behind why your candle burns out continually.
If left unkempt for an extended period of time, with pools of hardened wax around it from previous uses – chances are high that it could get drowning on lighting again which will make harder for oxygen to keep fuelling fire resulting in your candle going out by itself. Constantly relighting isn’t merely an annoyance; each time you do so might result in more of the wick getting buried under solidifying wax – creating an ongoing cycle where each successive light lasts shorter than its predecessor!
So if like many others you’ve found yourself wondering why does my candle keep going out all by itself, your answer might just lie in the depth of that wax pool! Remember, a well-kept candle burns longer and brighter, and taking good care of your candles can help to prevent this whole ‘drowning wick’ situation.
If you observe a pool of melted wax surrounding your wick while the candle is lit, it would be wise to blow out the flame and remove some of the excess wax. This way, you’ll have a healthier wick that has a better shot at staying lit for longer.
So next time you find yourself aggravated because your candle won’t stay lit or when it seems like your candle burns out for no reason at all, check to see if your wick is drowning. You never know – saving that tiny piece of string might just save your relaxing evening!
Conclusion
So, you’ve faced the perplexing problem of a candle that keeps going out. Or even more exasperating, a candle going out by itself when there’s not even a puff of wind in the room! You’ve been driven to distraction by this; it’s not as if you’re asking for much – just a simple little light from your favorite basil and bergamot scented centerpiece.
The good news is, as we’ve discovered together throughout this article, there’s usually a simple explanation – and solution – to the mysteries of why your candle won’t stay lit. Maybe its wick was too long or too short; perhaps it was drowning in its own wax — the miseries inflicted upon candles are many! But with our newfound knowledge, we can address these issues and restore tranquility to our living spaces with softly flickering candlelight once more.
Just remember: every challenge is an opportunity for growth. Even when you’re dealing with something as seemingly trivial as your favorite lavender-scented votive refusing to illuminate your evenings like before.
With patience, persistence and just a few tweaks here and there (pruning that wick down or propping it up), your stubborn little candle won’t merely burn; it will shine resplendently! Here’s to many cozy nights ahead filled with soft, flickering light – because no candle should ever have to suffer the ignominy of having its wick won’t light.
