It's the question every candle lover asks eventually, usually while staring at a $20 candle and doing mental math: how long is this actually going to last?
Short answer: a 9 oz soy candle like ours burns for up to 60 hours. That's about two months of nightly burning. But that number assumes you're treating the candle right — and most people aren't. Here's how to get every hour you paid for.
Why soy lasts longer than paraffin
Not all wax is equal. Soy wax has a lower melting point than paraffin, so it burns slower and cooler. A 9 oz soy candle typically outlasts the same size paraffin candle by 30 to 50 percent. It also burns cleaner — less soot on your walls, less smoke in your air. Longer and cleaner is a pretty good deal.
7 ways to make your candles last longer
1. Nail the first burn. This is the big one. The first time you light a candle, let it burn until the melted wax reaches the edge of the jar — usually 2 to 3 hours for a 9 oz candle. Wax has a memory: if you blow it out early, every future burn will tunnel down the middle and waste the wax on the sides.
2. Trim the wick to ¼ inch, every time. A long wick creates a bigger flame, which burns through wax faster and produces soot. Trim before each lighting and you'll add hours to the candle's life while keeping the scent clean.
3. Keep it out of drafts. A flickering flame isn't romantic — it's inefficient. Drafts from vents, fans, and open windows make the flame dance and burn unevenly, eating wax faster and leaving soot marks on the jar.
4. Don't burn for more than 4 hours at a time. After about four hours the wax pool gets too deep, the wick can start to mushroom, and the scent breaks down from overheating. Two to three hours is the sweet spot — then let it cool, trim, and relight later.
5. Put the lid on when it's cool. Dust settles into open wax and dulls the scent over time. A lid (or even a coaster over the top) keeps your candle fresh between burns.
6. Keep the wax pool clean. Wick trimmings and matches that fall into melted wax become little secondary wicks. Fish them out when the wax is cool — they cause uneven burning and can even be a safety issue.
7. Store candles properly. Heat and sunlight degrade both wax and fragrance. Store unburned candles somewhere cool and dark, and they'll smell just as good months later as the day they arrived.
The math that matters
At 60 hours of burn time, a $19.99 candle costs about 33 cents an hour — less than a streaming subscription, for something that actually makes your home feel different. Follow the tips above and you'll land at the top of that range instead of the bottom.
All of our candles are hand-poured to order with 100% dye-free soy wax, so they start with the longest possible burn time built in. The rest is up to you — and now you know how. Browse the full collection and put these tips to work.