Long Burning Candles: What Makes a Candle Last

The longest burning candles are made from a dense wax with a high melting point, such as pure beeswax, paired with a wick sized to the candle, poured in a wide shape and cured before sale. Care does the rest: a full first burn, a trimmed wick and no draughts. A 20 cm beeswax pillar can burn for about 100 hours; a paraffin candle of the same size will usually burn for less.

What makes a candle burn longer

The wax: density and melting point

A flame burns melted wax, drawn up the wick. The more heat it takes to melt the wax, the more slowly the flame uses it. Pure beeswax is dense and melts at around 62 to 64 °C, higher than soy and most paraffins, so it generally outlasts them at the same size. Our beeswax vs soy candles comparison puts the waxes side by side.

The wick

The wick matters as much as the wax. A wick that is too large burns fast and hot, with a tall flame that eats the candle and smokes. One that is too small drowns in its own pool and tunnels down the centre, leaving wax unused at the sides. Our cotton wicks are matched to each size of candle; that balance is a large part of every burn time we publish.

The shape

A wide pillar holds more wax for every centimetre of height than a slim one, so it burns for longer. A taper is designed for the opposite: a short, bright evening on the table. A candle in a vessel is protected from draughts, but the last centimetre of wax should be left in the cup for safety.

Curing

Freshly poured wax keeps settling for weeks. As it cures, it becomes harder, denser and more even, and a well-cured candle burns more slowly and steadily. Every candle we make rests on our shelves for at least three weeks before it is packed. We explain why in Why our candles cure for weeks.

The room

A warm room, a draught from a window or a door, and a long wick all shorten a candle’s life. Moving air makes the flame flare, melts the wax faster and causes drips.

Our burn times, measured

These are averages from our own test shelves, where one candle from every batch is burned while the rest cure. We would rather round them down than up.

For more on how these figures are reached, read How long does a beeswax candle burn?

Cost per hour: a fairer way to compare candles

The price on a candle tells you little on its own. Divide the price by the burn time in hours and you have what you are really paying for: hours of light. A candle that costs twice as much but burns three times as long is the less expensive one per evening.

When you compare, check that the burn time is stated at all, that it is given in hours rather than vague terms, and that it refers to the same size you are buying. A brand that does not publish a burn time has usually not measured one. Then remember that the hours on the label are only reached with good care.

How to make candles last longer

1. Give the first burn time. Let the melt pool reach the edge, about one hour for every 2.5 cm of width, roughly two hours for one of our vessels. This sets the candle’s memory so it does not tunnel. See Your first burn, done right.
2. Trim the wick before every burn, to about 5 mm. A short wick gives a smaller flame that burns more slowly and cleanly.
3. Keep it out of draughts. Open windows, fans and doorways make the flame dance and the wax melt faster.
4. Burn for no more than four hours at a time. Longer burns overheat the wick and shorten the candle’s life.
5. Tend a pillar’s walls. After a few burns, gently press the soft outer wall inwards while it is warm, so the pillar keeps burning evenly.
6. Fit tapers snugly in a holder, upright, so they burn straight and drip less.
7. Snuff, do not blow. A snuffer, or dipping the wick into the melted wax, avoids scattering wax and smoke.
8. Store candles cool and out of the sun, so the wax stays firm.

If a candle burns much faster than its stated time, the cause is almost always one of the first four habits.

Safety, before economy

Stop a vessel when about 1 cm of wax remains, so the glaze never gets too hot. Burn pillars on a plate or heat-proof holder. Keep every flame away from anything that can burn and out of reach of children and pets, and never leave a lit candle unattended.

Long burning beeswax candles from Beezu

Every Beezu candle is 100 % European beeswax and a cotton wick, poured or dipped by hand in small batches and cured for weeks. For the longest burn, choose a pillar: the 20 cm burns for about 100 hours, and the set of three for about 225. For scent, a vessel gives about 45 hours. To understand what else beeswax offers, read about the real beeswax candle benefits.