How to avoid sooting of jar candles : eBay Guides

Keeping the wick trimmed to a 1/4 inch is key.  However letting your candle burn too long can cause higher wick flame and excessive sooting the next time you light it.  After the wax pool on a jar candle meets the edge of a jar and melts the depth of the top layer to about a 1/4 -1/2 inch it is time to extinguish it and let it cool.  If you leave it burn longer than 1 hour per diameter inch, you run the risk of creatinga wick cone.  This is where the wick draws the hot wax up as it cools creating a small cone around the wick and a slight indentation on the hardened wax surface.  When you relightthe candle this wick cone melts the wax quickly, and instead of haveing a 1/4 inch wick, you now have a large wick surface, which allows soothing to occur.  If you do run in to this it can easily be fixed, by lighting the candle for a moment or two. extinguish it, and trim wick with scissors, an old pair of nail clippers,with out picking it up or tilting it.  ( if you would pick it up and tilt it to trim the wick it causes the small amount of melted awax to roll away from the wick making matters even worse.)  Use a match holder or long lighterto ignite  candle after performing this procedure.