Lighting Your Wood Wick Candle
Why Your Wood Wick Candle Won’t Stay Lit
(And How To Fix It)
The gentle crackle and unique flicker of wood wick candles make for a super cozy ambience, but they can be a little tricky to burn if you're not used to them.
Wooden wicks burn a bit differently than traditional cotton wicks do, and there are a few common issues that cause them to not stay lit.
How to light a wood wick candle like a pro
You’ll want to light these differently from cotton wicks, but it’s very simple:
When lighting a wood wick candle, the best technique is to tilt it on an angle and let the flame draw across the length of the wick (kind of like how you tilt a match after lighting).
It may also take several tries to get it lit! The heat from the flame needs to draw the wax through the wick before it will really start burning nicely. When in doubt, give it another try - once you get it going once, it should light up more easily.
Here are our top 3 tips to get the best results from your wood wick candles:
1) The first burn is the most important - how to do it right
Give your candle enough burning time to develop a melted wax pool that goes all the way to the edge of the container on the first use - this can take up to a few hours, depending on candle size.
Believe it or not, your jar candles have a kind of “wax-memory,” and once a burning pattern has been established, it can be hard to change.
If you don’t allow your candle enough time to form a full melt pool on the first burn, a little depression or “tunnel” may start to form around the wick.
This will make it more difficult for the wax around the edges of the jar to melt, causing the tunneling effect to continue with each burn.
Eventually the tunnel will become too deep for fresh oxygen to flow in, and your candle will have trouble staying lit for more than short periods of time.
To prevent this issue, make sure to give your candle enough time to develop a melted wax pool that goes all the way to the edge of the container the first time you use it.
This melt pool can take 2 hours or more to form, depending on the candle size, so wait to light up your new candle until you have some time to “burn”.
After the first use, you don’t have to let a full wax pool form every single time, but it is ideal if you want to get the most life out of your candle. Just make sure give your jar candles a nice long burn every so often to “reset” the wax memory and prevent any tunneling.
This will keep your candle looking great, smelling great, burning evenly, and all the other great things you want!
* If you’re experiencing the dreaded “tunneling” problem already, you may be able to fix it - see tip #3 below.
2) Keep your wood wick trimmed short and free of charred bits
For optimal burn, keep your wood wick trimmed to about ⅛”, and clean off any burnt wood from previous use.
Other than the tunneling problem, if your wood wick candle won’t stay lit it’s probably because the wick is too long, or it needs to be trimmed clean of charred material.
Remember it’s not the wood fueling your candle’s flame, it’s the wax. The flame is drawing the wax upwards through the wick, so if it’s not trimmed short and clean, the wax can’t make it to the flame.
For trimming, we’ve always found an old set of nail clippers or wire cutters to work great. In a pinch, you can always use a napkin and your fingers to gently break off the burnt parts of the wick.
Just make sure to let your candle cool before trimming, as you don’t want any bits of ash or wick material left in the wax when you’re done. It’s much easier to clean this up when the wax is hard and cool!
3) How to fix a candle that’s tunneling:
If your wood wick or jar candle has developed some tunneling from shorter burns, you can usually fix it - here’s how:
First and best option: if your candle will stay lit, give it a good long burn until all the wax is melted to the edge of the jar, and you’ve effectively “reset” the memory of the wax.
The flame height may vary when you do this, but as long as there is still a burn, it should continue to create a melt pool, just be patient.
If your candle won’t stay lit because it is “drowning” in a wax pool, try using a paper towel or napkin to soak up some of the excess wax.
Then wait for a minute or so, relight your candle, and repeat until your wick has room to breathe!