Questions about this piece
Why does a candle tunnel down the middle?
Because the first burn was cut short. Wax has a memory, and however far the melted pool spreads the first time you light it is roughly as wide as it will melt on every burn after, so blowing it out at the one-hour mark sets a narrow channel the flame then follows straight down, leaving a ring of wax welded to the glass. Give a new candle three or four hours the first time, long enough for the pool to reach the edge.
Is soy wax better than paraffin?
It burns cooler and slower, which is why a soy candle the same size as a paraffin one generally lasts longer. It also carries less fragrance per ounce, so soy tends to scent a room gently rather than filling a whole floor. Neither one is fragile, and the bigger factor in how any candle performs is the wick and how well it was matched to the wax. Soy does have one practical edge: spill it and it comes up with soap and hot water.
How long will this candle burn?
Over 50 hours, from an 11 ounce jar on a 100% cotton wick. Split into the four-hour sittings a candle is meant to get, that is a dozen evenings or more out of one jar. The cotton wick is doing real work there, since cotton burns down evenly with the wax instead of curling over into a carbon hook the way some braided wicks do, so the flame stays about the same size from the top of the jar to the bottom. It is poured in Pittsburgh from a soy-based wax, vegan and phthalate-free.