How to Trim a Candle Wick

Trim the wick to about 5mm before every burn. That is the difference between a clean pool and a sooty lid. A long wick makes a tall flame, which makes a mushroom of carbon, which then falls in and makes black bits in the wax. People blame the fragrance. It is usually the wick.

How

1. Let the candle set if it is still soft. Trimming a warm wick just smears carbon.
2. Cut to about 5mm above the wax. Nail clippers work. Wick trimmers are nicer. Scissors are fine if you fish out the offcut.
3. Take the trimmings out of the jar. They are little firelighters.
4. Light it. If the flame is still a spike after five minutes, blow it out, wait, trim again.

Wood wicks: snap the charred edge off with your fingers or trim with clippers so you have a clean, thin edge. A fat charcoal top will not draw.

Why 5mm

Short enough that the flame is in control. Long enough that it does not drown in the pool. Go too short and you get a weak flame and, ironically, tunnelling. Too long and you get smoke, a hot jar, and a burnt top-note.

If the glass is going black, that is this job not being done. We wrote why jars turn black because we get sent photos of it every winter.

When not to obsess

A tiny bit of mushroom after a long burn is normal, especially on cotton. Trim next time. If it mushrooms every twenty minutes, the wick is too large for the wax, or you are burning in a gale from a hall door.

Our jars are cotton-wicked for soy-coconut. Care is the same across the range — the short care list if you only want one page bookmarked.