What is a candle wick?
A wick is a strip of cloth, round or flat, that is used for transportation of different liquids by capillary rising.
Wick material
Most of the wicks are made from 100% cotton by interlocking threads.
How does a wick work?
It works thanks to capillary rising. Liquid in the wick rises by itself into a certain height. If it’s somehow being removed, further liquid is sucked in. It can be removed by vaporizing, burning, sucking in or dripping.
How to choose a wick?
A wick is the most important element when you make a candle. The most apparent thing about a candle is its shape, size, color and the kind of wax. But it’s the wick that determines how the candle will burn, what kind of flame and light it will give. When choosing a wick, different factors are taken int account: candle diameter, type of wax etc.
Wick kinds
- Flat wick – one of the most used kind, used for paraffin wax, gels etc.
- Round wick – used for candles from palm wax and beeswax. These waxes don’t soak very well into wicks, so it’s better to use thicker wicks.
Apprixomate diameters of round wicks for palm wax and beeswax candles:
For candles with diameter up to 4.5 cm it’s better to use 1.8 mm wick.
For candles with diameter over 4.5 cm use 2.2 mm or 3 mm wick.
Unfortunately no professional candle maker can tell for 100% what type of wick should be used for the given candle diameter. Sometimes the wick can be too thin and the candle drip, or it’s too thick and the candle cannot burn out. Correct burning of the candle can be dependent also on the wax composition. The best practice is to make the same candle with different wicks, try burning them and then decide which wick to use for the rest of the candles.