Picking a candle wick can feel like a daunting process, which is why we put together this helpful chart to get you started. This candle wick chart is intended to help you get off on the right foot when you start testing candles. We hope this free resource will also help you save time and money in the testing phase. Hi, I’m Carl Adamson, one of the founders here at Candleers. A few years ago I got really into the art and craft of candle making, initially with soy wax container candles. My friends started asking me to make candles for them and pretty soon it turned into a nice side-business.
In such situations, we need to add another wick to make double wick candles. The wick is too small, so it’s unable to melt enough wax. The wick you’re using may be too small or too short to have enough wax melted.
- You may have picked the best type of wax, fragrance, and dye; however, if the incorrect wick is selected, your candle will not burn properly.
- A burn test is made up of many sections which helps you to ensure your candle is burning correctly and safely and, of course, smells as it should.
- It’s very important to test your candles before giving them as a gift or selling them.
- Use two candle wicks when candle size is nearing 4 inches in diameter.
- Hemp cored wicks are very effective in natural and paraffin based container, votive and pillar candles.
Most people burning a candle tackle this endeavor without any structure or rules. Also called a stress test, the candle is burned to prove that left unattended, or burned for a long time, is not detrimental to the user. This means testing the candle from start to finish – no exceptions. The best candle makers know this, and usually won’t fret over their first few choices in wicks; every design has differences. Wax manufacturers typically design their wax for a specific application, so make sure you’re selecting one that’s appropriate for your candle. They come together when the wax melts and has to travel up through the wick.
Candle Wick Size Chart
Allow the candle to cool for at least five hours and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 until the candle is completely burned. The quality of burn will almost always change during the entire burning of the candle. As a general rule, one wick is used for a candle with a diameter of 3 inches (around 76.2mm).
- They can be used with vegetable waxes however, you may find you need to go up a few sizes than what you’d use with paraffin wax.
- You can try to use a smaller wick, trim the wick you are using or change the wick type altogether.
- Below we select some of the widely used waxes (or blends) and brands.
- CD wicks are specialty wicks with interwoven paper threads.
His wax varies from relatively clean to blocks with rivers of honey buried inside. The design and nomenclature of this wicking is, I believe somewhat unique to the U.S. Apparently wicking produced and sold in other parts of the world utilize a different grading system and are not the same.
Does the Size of a Candle Wick Matter?
The wire core in the wick helps the wick to remain standing straight while the candle is being poured and when the candle is lit. They have been widely used since the use of lead core wicks was discontinued long ago. Each wick has been cut to the specified length, primed with a standard wax (180°F) and has been crimped with a 20mm diameter x 10mm tall tab.
How to Make a Candle Wick by Hand?
Once you have the diameter of your vessel, you can use our handy wick sizing guides on the wicks product page to help determine which wick you would need. If your original three wick sizes all fail, check the chart above for corrections. It’s really not a candle without one, but where do you start?
Step 6: Find the right wick size.
If left to burn all the way, soot will collect on the inside of the container. The container can also become very hot and could damage the surface underneath or even crack. Below you’ll find recommended wicks for both beeswax and soy candles. The information in this table reflects candles made without fragrance. Use this chart as a starting point to conduct your own burn tests – find more information on how to find the right candle wick here.
The burn pool, which is the extent of melted wax, establishes the ultimate diameter of useable wax that the candle will ever use in subsequent burnings. The solid wax remaining around the outside of the burn pool will help the candle to retain its shape. For this reason, I always tell my customers that beeswax candles are intended to be burned all evening, not just a couple minutes and then extinguished.
Step 1: Pick a wax type
Consequently, you will see a dancing or flickering flame. Let the three candles cure for a minimum of 7 days for soy wax. Wax hardens as it cures so if you test the candles immediately after pouring them vs waiting 7 days you will get different results. To get results more similar to what a customer experiences you need to wait the full 7 days. Without the right candle wick, you could experience problems with tunneling, drowning wick, soot, and no hot scent throw.
Most of the time, the key suspect is the fragrance oil, which is known to impact the burn tremendously. You can use the following guide for recommended actions to take if your candle gives off a “signal”. If you couldn’t say yes to all those questions for any of the wicks you tested, choose a new wick (or several wicks) and make more candles (or use some of these hacks). Then just create your three candles, allow them to cure for a proper amount of time, and continue to the burn test.
In our opinion, candles are the just RIGHT relationship between the air, wax, fragrance, and wick. Further, the wick will finally determine how the candle will burn. For most of us, choosing the right wick size and type is one of the most important aspects of DIY candle-making, whether you’re a newly started candle maker or an experienced one.
Use two candle wicks when candle size is nearing 4 inches in diameter. At a certain point, increasing candlewick size produces too large and too smokey of a candle flame. Prevent those things from happening candle wick size chart by using two smaller wicks instead. Several factors go into choosing a candle wick size for the container you’re using. RRD wicks are round directional and have a cotton core and tension threads.
