We Tried Freezing Our Candles For Longer Burn Time And We're Lit Up By The Results

While some believe freezing your candles can extend their burn time, others think this is just an old wives' tale. According to those that think this hack is helpful, placing your candles in the freezer before lighting them should make them burn slower since the wax is colder. Because of this, it should take longer to reach the bottom of a candle, which could save you money over time, as you won't have to buy as many candles.

We were optimistic when we first heard about this hack, as it makes logical sense. Further, because it's so easy to execute and costs no money, if it did work, we knew it would be an easy hack to implement on a regular basis. If it was successful, we were also curious to see how much time it would add onto the frozen candle versus the regular one, as only a few extra minutes wouldn't be worth it to us, but a few hours may make a big enough difference. We knew we had to test it for ourselves to see if this trick could work.

We already had all the materials needed to test out this experiment, including two sample-size candles from Yankee Candle, which can be purchased for less than $3 each. We also had a Duraflame lighter from Walmart. To make it easy to tell the difference between the frozen and unfrozen candles, we used two different colors — the blue one had taken a trip to the freezer, while the pink one sat out on our countertop at around 70 degrees F. While there are mixed opinions about how long you should keep your candles in the freezer before burning them, some say that six to eight hours should be enough. To stay on the safe side, we froze the blue candle for over 24 hours before removing it for the experiment.

To prepare for the hack, we placed the candles side by side on our kitchen countertop, as they needed to be in a safe environment for a long burn. We also got a timer ready, as we wanted to be able to track how much time had passed while the candle was steadily burning. After removing the blue candle from the freezer, we used scissors to trim the wicks of both the candles to the same height, since they were quite long and uneven before.

We removed the blue candle from the freezer, noticing that it gained an icy exterior, and placed it next to the pink candle on our kitchen countertop. After trimming the wicks, we lit the wick and started the timer. We watched a small puddle of wax slowly begin to form. After about five minutes of burning, there wasn't a clear difference between them. Leaving the candles to burn down on the countertop, we checked in with the progress periodically throughout the day. At 1½ hours, it looked as though the pink candle was burning slightly faster, but we weren't completely sure. 

Up until hour 7, the candles were burning at almost the same speed, with the pink candle possibly being slightly faster. But as the candles reached around 8 ½ hours, it was clear that the pink candle would reach the bottom first. Right after the 9-hour mark, the pink candle's flame went out, leaving the blue candle to continue to burn. It kept burning for another 5 hours before it reached the end. 

Because the frozen candle lasted an extra 5 hours over the pink one, it's clear to us that this hack is definitely worth it. Not only that, but it also costs nothing and is extremely easy to execute. If you used this hack on a regular basis, it could save you lots of money on candles and allow you to use the ones you love for hours longer. 

At the same time, we heard concerns about candles that are placed in the freezer not performing as well as ones that are not. Some believe that, if a candle is left in the cold for too long and then quickly placed back in room-temperature air, it could crack, split, or lose some of its scent. Because of this, it may be best to only freeze your candles for a short time before lighting them, instead of keeping them in the freezer all the time. However, we didn't experience any of these issues, as the wax didn't crack or split, and both candles produced a fresh scent in our kitchen the whole time.