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Home > Choose The Right Wick For Your Candle
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Choose The Right Wick For Your Candle by Dave Krigger
Today's article will address how to maximize the burn performance ratio per hour of burn of your hand poured candles. Huh? what did he just say! A geek can make anything sound boring and complicated.
Candle making isn't complicated at all, but there are some tricks to making your home-made candles burn better. One important thing that you can do is select the correct kind of wick. There are wicks for tea lights, votive candles, and various size containers. You really need to select the right size of wick. Now, of course the wick has to be tall enough! I am talking about width.
The size of the wick is not determined by the height of your candle, but by the width of the container. The rule of thumb is the wider the container, the thicker the wick.
Thin wicks absorb less liquid wax, therefore produce less vapor fuel and a smaller flame. A thicker wick absorbs more wax and produces a larger flame. This becomes important when your container is wide. A larger flame produces a more even burn circle out towards the edge of the wide container.
When you purchase your wicks, they should be marked with the recommended container size. If they are not, compare the options that you can find. Containers in excess of 3.5 inches should have the thickest wicks. Containers between 2.5 inches and 3.5 inches should have a medium sized wick. And, jars less than 2" need only the thinner wicks. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have thicker wicks in smaller jars, but they will burn off the wax more quickly.
No matter what container or wick size you choose, it is also very important to center the wick as perfectly as possible. My supplier provides a measured "target". I place the candle (this works best with glass jars) on the target so that the perimeter of the candle matches one of the rings. The center dot in the target then matches the exact center of the jar. This is more accurate that eyeballing it. Then, use a popcicle stick with a small hole in the center to hold the wick while you pour and while the wax cures.
OK, time to apply what we have learned about burn performance theory! Just apply the rules of thumb and have fun!
About the Author
Andrea Rousseau and Dave Krigger are a husband and wife team who own http://www.keystonesoycandles.com and http://www.coolcraftedcandles.com.
Go Here for information on Candle Making (http://keystonesoycandles.com)
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