Light your candle in a well-ventilated room, away from drafts, or fans, which can cause sooting (black marks on the vessel), or rapid, uneven burning.

Burn regular-sized candles for one and a half to two hours at a time. Burning for less time can cause the candle to 'tunnel', which leaves a build-up of wax around the vessel's sides. Burning for longer periods (over four hours) can cause the wick to move, or slant.

Make sure you stop burning your candle when 10mm of wax remains at the bottom, keeping an eye on a burning candle when the wax is low.

Keep the wax pool clear of wick trimmings and matches, as debris in the wax can act as a secondary wick, encouraging your candle to burn faster.

After extinguishing the flame with a snuffer, centre and straighten the wick. Burning for too long can cause the wick to move, or slant. If you see a flaming wick come close to the vessel wall, extinguish the flame and straighten the wick to prevent the vessel from cracking.

Long, or crooked wicks can create high flames, smoking, or sooting. Trimming the wick to 5mm (when the wax has set) is the easiest way to prevent this.