Tips to Burning Wooden Wicks Successfully

Crackling wooden wicks take your candle-burning experience to another level.

Not only do you have the soothing sight of the flickering flame, but you also get to hear the comforts of crackling wood in the background.

And with anything new, you need to get to know them and learn how they work.

What's The Difference Between Wooden And Cotton Wicks:

Let's begin by discussing the difference between the two types of wicks.

A wooden wick provides a wide low flame versus a cotton wick has a skinner taller flame. You get a soft crackle in the background, and because they do give a broader flame, your wax heats up faster, which allows the candle to fill your room with an appealing aroma in no time at all.

How Wooden Wicks Work:

The mechanism is the same as our braided cotton wicks. The flame heats the wax around the wick, and then the wood pulls the melted wax up from the candle to the part on fire, keeping a continuous flame.

Is It Important To Trim The Wooden Wick?

Yes, for three reasons:

  1. The charred wood will not stay lit as well as fresh unburned wood. You need to trim your wooden wick to 1/8 of an inch before every burn.
  2. If you don't cut your wooden wick as recommended, the flame could get too big, causing your candle to burn much faster, losing precious burn time, and potentially risking the integrity of the vessel. An oversized flame could heat your glass vessel too hot and crack it, leading to a possible fire hazard.
  3. If your wooden wick is too long, the flame may not be strong enough to pull the melted wax up to the top to feed the flame. Your wick would then struggle to stay lit.

My Wooden Wick Won't Stay Lit:

You buy this beautiful candle, and the flame keeps going out. A wick that won't stay lit can be so frustrating. Don't give up; as I mentioned initially, we have to learn more about wooden wicks, and we will be experts in no time at all.

My Wooden Wick is Drowning In the Wax:

You cut your wick too short, and it's drowning in the wax. There has to be enough distance between the melted wax and the top of the wooden wick for it to get enough oxygen and remain lit.

Quick Fix: Take a paper towel and soak up enough wax to rescue your wick and relight. 

My Wick is Drowning In the Wax And I Did Not Cut It Too Short:

If you didn't cut your wick too short but the wick is struggling to have a strong flame then there is too much charred wood on the wick for it to burn hot enough.

Quick Fix: Extinguish the flame, take your wick trimmer and carefully trim a tiny bit of charred wood from the top of the wick and relight.

One of My Wooden Wicks, In My Dough Bowl Candle, Won't Light:

A few things might be going on here. First, check to see if you can see the metal wick clip (the piece that holds your wick in place); if you can see that your wick isn't much taller than the metal, you may have trimmed it a little short.  

Quick Fix: Light the other wicks in the dough bowl like normal, allow those wicks to burn off some of the wax, and then come back and try to relight the wick that was giving you trouble. Sometimes it just needs a little less wax around it to get going again.

Another reason why one of your wicks isn't lighting like the others is it has too much-charred wood on the top, and it needs trimming.

Quick Fix: Trim the wick to 1/8th of an inch and light.

Lastly, the wick may be downing. Since every dough bowl candle is uniquely hand-carved, there may be a slope.

Quick Fix: Make sure you are burning on a heat-resistant level surface. If the wick is still drowning, then take a paper towel and soak up a little wax, give it some room to breathe, and then try to light.

Wooden Wick Wrap Up:

I bet you feel better knowing a bit more about wooden wicks, how they work, and how to enjoy them in your homes.

If you have any questions or didn't find the answer you were looking for, please email us at Hello@Bellavidacandles.com.