How to Care for a Soy Candle

A candle is made in its first hour. Light it when you have time to stay with it, and let it burn until the melted wax reaches the edge of the jar. Soy wax remembers: put it out too early and every burn after will follow the same narrow ring down the middle.

Before each burn after that, trim the wick to about a quarter of an inch. A short wick gives a low, steady flame and keeps the glass clear. Lift the trimmed end away so it never falls into the wax.

Burn for no more than four hours at a time, then let the wax set before lighting it again. Keep the flame out of drafts, well away from anything that can catch, and out of reach of children and pets. Never leave it burning in an empty room.

Stop when about half an inch of wax remains. Once it has cooled, the jar washes out with warm, soapy water and can be kept for something else: matches, a sprig of rosemary, the small things that collect on a desk.