Wick Up and Smell the Candle

I love candles. Growing up, my mom always had a candle burning that would smell up the house (in a good way) with cookies, cinnamon, cake batter, roses, or any other yummy scent. So naturally, when I got a home of my own, I continued with the candle burning.

One thing I never realized was how easy it is to spend a lot of money on candles. They can get expensive, especially if you go through them as fast as I do! Once you've burned it all the way down, the wick is no longer usable, but there is usually a good amount of wax still in the candle.





Here's how to not waste any candle wax:

Fill a small pot of water about 1 inch high. Place the [almost] finished candle in the water. You want the candle to touch the bottom of the pot, so if there is too much water, it will float. Likewise, if there is too little water, it will evaporate quicker than you can melt the wax. This is fine, as long as you never let the water completely dry up. Always keep some water in the pan. If the glass candle is in the pot alone, with no water, the glass will get too hot and shatter, which is obviously dangerous.

Set the pot on the stove, heat on low for however long it takes for the wax to use up, and enjoy the extra 2-3 hours of scent!

If you heat the stove too high, the water will boil, which will cause the candle to burn way faster, plus the water will evaporate faster, meaning you have to keep a more watchful eye on it.