Wick Care: The Secret to a Long Lasting Burning Candle
You've opened the packaging to your new candle. The anticipation of a new candle is causing you to absolutely bounce around with excitement. You get your lighter out and light the wick....and that's when everything has already gone wrong.
If you want to have a long lasting candle, even burning candle, the key is wick care and time. What do you need to take care of your wick? A simple wick trimmer like this one on Amazon and about 3-4 hours of time.
Why is wick trimming so important?
The wick of a candle determines how hot the candle burns. Thicker wicks, certain wick types, and longer (untrimmed) wicks all burn faster. The faster the burn, the hotter your candle gets. When your candle gets hotter, more wax is used.
A perfect example is our Lark Candles Collection. We have extensively tested the candles in the Lark Candles Collection. When we've tested our candles by trimming the wick consistently at 1/4", we get a 30-45+ hour burn time. However, when we've done a side by side burn, but didn't trim, we only get less than 30 hours of burn time. Almost half of your burn time is gone because of poor wick care!
How to trim your wicks?
Once you get a wick trimmer, you should cut your cotton wick to 1/4" (or your wood wick to 1/8") at all times to ensure an even burn. When wick trimming, make sure the candle is at room temperature and not currently lit and trim. Avoid using your fingers to pluck off the wick. You run the chance of plucking the wick off too close to the wax, which makes it hard to light. Even worse, you have a chance of burning yourself!
Make sure to avoid over-trimming your wick as well or you run the risk of not being able to light the candle or not being able to smell the scent of the candle.
Remember wick trimming is just as important as giving yourself enough time to create a melt pool
While wick trimming is important, just as important is giving yourself 3-4 hours to let your candle create an appropriate melt pool. Burn your candle until it reaches the edges of the container and at least 1/4" deep. If you're not sure about why you need to give yourself time to create a melt pool, please read this before lighting your next candle.
A candle is an investment into an experience, make it worth it! As long as you keep trimming your wicks and making sure the melt pool gets to the edge of the container, you are well on your way to a long burning candle!
- Matt and Ashley