What Happens If Water Gets Into Candle Wax?

Water in a melt pool makes the flame spit and pop. A drop from wet fingers, a steamy bathroom, a bright idea involving a wet snuffer. The wick can drown. The glass can get a shock it did not ask for. Put it out.

What to do

Let it set. If there is a puddle on top, blot what you can. Give it a day. Trim the wick. Relight on a dry afternoon, not in the steam of a shower. If it still crackles, stop. There is still water in there.

Do not use water to put a candle out. That is how you send wax up the tiles. Snuff it. Putting it out.

A bathroom candle wants a lid between burns. Ours are fine in a bathroom if the pool is not being rained on — Ullapool has sat in plenty of Highland bathrooms. Steam is the enemy, not the room.