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Candle Safety: How to Re-Center A Wick

Let's talk wicks!

We use cotton-cored paper wicks in our soy wax candles. The cotton core helps to reduce carbon output, making an overall cleaner burning candle in addition to the cooler burning soy wax that we use.

Just as important as the wick composition is the wick placement. We're confident that the majority of candle makers out there do their very best to pour beautifully centered wicks, but it's inevitable that a few off-centered ones slip through the cracks.

An uncentered wick causes a candle to burn unevenly, leaving dark soot on one side of the glass. Aesthetically, it's not very pretty, and economically, you won't get the full burn time out of a candle with an off-center wick.

More seriously, if a candle is left to burn with an uncentered wick, the glass may become too hot and crack. This can be prevented with some slight fiddling with an off-centered wick as soon as you notice it.

While there may be other causes of an uneven burn, a wonky wick is most likely in the case that your candle is from an established company who has done plenty of in-depth fragrance, wick, wax, and vessel testing before putting a finished product on the market.

If you purchase a candle with an uncentered wick (from us or anyone else) here's how you can fix it and prevent a hot, annoying, and possibly sharp mess:

★ First, never burn candles unattended. You may not be able to tell a wick is off-center before burning it.
★ If you notice that your wick is off-center or your candle is burning unevenly, put the candle out immediately.
★ Use long tweezers to re-center the wick. Dip tweezers about 1/4-1/2" into the liquid wax. Gently guide the wick towards center. Emphasis on the gently, here, or you may pull the wick right out.
★ Allow the wax to solidify completely before lighting your candle again.

We've always prided ourselves on having excellently centered wicks. If one slips by (which, on occasion, it does), you'll find it in our sale section here. Return to this page if you find yourself with an off-center wick for easy troubleshooting.

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