Wooden Wick Candles

A lot of people have never used a wooden wick candle before and are used to traditional woven cotton string wicks. However the popularity of wooden wicks has been growing over the years, and for good reason!

Wooden wicks are known for their comforting and warming “crackling” sound and sometimes shooting up little embers as they burn. However, since they are made of 100% natural wood they take a little extra awareness and care vs cotton wicks.

Here are some tips to get the best experience out of your new wooden wick candle:

The First Burn

The first time lighting your candle is the most important, as it determines how well the candle will perform throughout the rest of its life. Your first burn should be for a minimum of 2-3 hours, or until the melted wax surrounding the wick reaches the outer glass of the jar. This is called the “melt pool”.

If you blow out the candle before the melt pool reaches its full width, the candle can suffer from what’s known as “tunneling” or “wax memory” resulting in extra unburned wax left out against the jar circumference. In some cases, as the tunnel gets deeper, the wall of wax above will begin to melt and flood out the flame – making it hard to keep lit.

At this point the only way to save your candle is to take a tool and physically scrape away all the excess wax creating the tunnel.

Trimming The Wick

When you blow out your wooden wick candle there will be some bits of black charred wood at the top of the wick. Before your next burn (and after the candle has fully cooled down!), reach in the jar and pinch the top of the wick, breaking off the charred end and discard. If any bits fall onto the wax, shake the jar upside down over a trash can to get them out.

The remaining wick sticking up should be approximately 1/8” – 3/16” above the wax. This will ensure your candle will perform correctly during its next burn.

Wick Clipper

If you don’t want to use your fingers to pinch the wick, pickup a proper wick clipper.

Wax Level

If for some reason the flame keeps getting flooded out with wax after being lit, such as trimming the wick too short – try pouring out some of the melted wax. This will give the wick a little more height above the wax and allow it to better “breathe”.

Wand Lighter

While you can light your candle with a match or Bic style lighter, you may consider investing in a pack of wand lighters like these to more easily reach into the jar.

Kids & Pets

Never leave a burning candle unattended! Keep away from pets and small children – you don’t want a lit candle full of hot wax getting tipped over – ask us how we and our cat Sybil know!