So, you are thinking about, or already have, become the owner of a candle with a wooden wick - congratulations! Although these are now becoming more easy to find and purchase, they still seem a little misunderstood which is a great shame. Because not everyone knows very much about them, the misunderstandings have become myths and you never know quite what to believe. This blog is here to help you! I knew nothing about them until relatively recently, but following research and my own experimentation I feel I am now getting to grips with them and will be using them in my own products following rigorous testing and with it, the knowledge that buyers should have a problem free and enjoyable experience.
This is not written for candle makers like myself but for people who simply want to try out a candle with a wooden wick so they can experience them and make their own decisions about preferences and wood wick vs traditional wick etc.
Above is an example of one of my wooden wick candles made when I was experimenting with glitter! It is a close up of a pretty tiny - not much larger than a tea light sized candle poured into glass. You may notice that this has a double wick - not all candles will, it is simply the way that I found worked best for my candles.
The above photo shows some candles I made in shot glasses but they give you a pretty good idea what the wooden wick looks like. If you are looking at it from the side you would notice that the wick is very short. It is recommended that a wooden wick should be no more than one eighth of an inch above the wax. This differs from a traditional cotton wick that may be around a quarter of an inch in height.
LIGHTING YOUR WICK FOR THE FIRST TIME: Generally, a wooden wick is not as fast to light as a cotton one. For this reason it is easier with a gas candle lighter but will work equally well with a match. Just be aware that it may take a moment or two to catch - this is quite normal as it has a larger surface area than a cotton wick and is denser as well. You can see in the image below, how the wick will look once it is burning properly. This one has only just been lit as you can tell from the very small 'melt pool' just around the wick. The melt pool is the area of wax that has melted and we will be talking about that again very soon!
BURNING DURATION FOR THE FIRST BURN: You may have heard people talking about wax having a memory - and indeed it does! This is why it is really important that for the first burn of any candle you should give it enough time for the full melt pool to appear. If your candle has been 'wicked' correctly with the right size of wick for your candle, the melt pool should ideally come almost up to the edge of the container but not quite. Once it has reached what you think is its maximum size then you can if you wish, extinguish the flame. The memory of the wax will then make sure that it always burns to that size which will prevent 'tunnelling' where you end up with a wide band of unmelted wax all around the candle that gets deeper as it burns.
The image above is a good example of a candle that has not got correct size of wick as the melt pool has spread right up to the sides and you can see right down to the steel wick holder at the bottom. There is nothing terribly wrong with this, but your candle will just burn more quickly.
EXTINGUISHING YOUR CANDLE: Although a candle snuffer is usually advised for extinguishing candles, for a wooden wick this may not be as effective because the size of the wick is much larger and a larger surface area is burning. You may find that you have to actually blow it being careful not to get too close or splash melted wax on yourself or the surroundings.
BEFORE RE-LIGHTING: As with cotton wicks, you need to trim the wick before re-lighting. This is to remove the burned debris, maintain the correct height of around one eighth of an inch, and ensure a cleaner burn. Wick trimmers are great for this, especially if you have a candle in a tall container that has melted down to a good depth, but scissors will suffice. Just make sure you take out any of the trimmings before lighting the candle again.
Simply re-light your candle when you are ready and if possible burn it until the full melt pool appears, although it is not as important the second time and will also get there a lot quicker as it has already been melted previously.
Have fun and enjoy!
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