Home Improvement

This Secret Hack Will Make Your Candles Last Way Longer

By Katie Maguire May 15, 2020 1:18 pm EST

Urban Outfitters

TikTok is proving to be our new favorite source for all kinds of home hacks (sorry in advance, Gen Z). From laundry stripping to Anthropologie dupes, there is just too much life-changing content to uncover. The latest ingenious tip from the social media app? Lighting a candle the right way.

We know what you must be thinking ("Isn't there really only one way to light a candle?"), but TikTok user TaylorToks shares that there is a secret hack to ensure that your candle will melt evenly for the rest of its dutiful life — and it's super easy.

TikTok

When you first light a new candle, all you have to do is let it burn until the entire top level of wax melts completely. You might be tempted to blow it out quickly, so as not to waste it, but as TaylorToks explains, candles actually have "memory," which is learned during the first light only. That's why, when you blow a candle out too early, it creates an uneven melting pattern and ultimately wastes a ton of unused wax (pics above). But, if you let the wax melt evenly across the top, your candle will burn down evenly and more slowly, ultimately giving it a longer life.

So easy, right? If you're ready to put the theory to test, here are a few of our favorite candles on sale right now.

Homesick Candles Bloomingdale's NYC Candle, ~~$29.95~~ $22.50