I learned something very important this morning! I have some old Home interior large candle in a jars and one only had about 1/2 in or candle left in it. So I decided it might make a cute covered candy dish. Oh, how to get the rest of that candle out??? I got the bright idea to just nuke it for about 20 seconds to soften up the wax so it should pop right out. WELL, after about 3 seconds I heard this POP and looked in the microwave and the wick had lit! Okay, so after rethinking that, the candle sat in some hot water for about 30 minutes and the empty jar is now in the dishwasher. SO, lesson learned. DON'T put candles in the microwave! lol

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 11:43 am:

Wow, I had no idea that could happen! Very scary!

By Yjja123 on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 12:37 pm:

best way is to freeze it and they pop right out
wax can explode so never microwave--it could have been a big fire as wax has a high flash point!

By Tink on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 12:40 pm:

Wow! I didn't know that could happen either. I'm glad that you didn't walk off while it warmed up. I've done that plenty of times.

By Cat on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 12:52 pm:

Thanx for the tip, Yvonne. I do have one more candle (or maybe two, there might be one lurking somewhere in my house!) that I'll probably do this to eventually. It still has a good couple of inches in it, though. I don't get to burn candles much because I can't while daycare kids are here, and they're here about 55 hour a week! I also don't burn them at night because I'm usually downstairs in the family room and I won't leave them up here without me being up here. I guess maybe I'll have to take one downstairs. I used to burn candles all the time (after kids went home) in Maryland, but that house was set up different. Anyway, I'm glad others are learning from my mistake! lol

By Yjja123 on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 01:12 pm:

Jar candles should never be burnt to the bottom. It is done when there is 1/2 inch left of wax.
If you allow it to go down too far it can break the jar or worse start a fire.
You could remove the rest by putting your jar in a pan of water and once melted dump out the residue. Just stick in boiling water and keep an eye on it.
My daughter and I make jar candles and the reason I know this is the wax comes with all this information on it, as does the warning labels.
Enjoy your candles but be safe

By Rayanne on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 02:57 pm:

I used to work for Party-Lite. If you have a candel that you cannot get out, just put it in the freezer for 15 minutes and it will pop right out.

By Imamommyx4 on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 04:39 pm:

I had a candle once that I microwaved. It had one of those little metal pieces in the bottom that held the wick. OHHHH. That was a bad idea. I don't know what would have happened if I'd been dumb enough to walk away. But the microwave started popping. I was afraid it would explode. Scared the bejeebers out of me.

Also never nuke whole hardboiled eggs in the shell. They explode and make a blooming mess. My dh husband said, "I really thought you were smarter than that." Duh!