How To Make A Pillar Candle With Wooden Wicks
Most people think wooden wicks are just for container candles, but did you know, you can use wooden wicks for pillar candles, votives, and tea lights?
When making a pillar candle with a wooden wick, there are a few things you will need to do differently than when using a cotton wick, but if anything, it’s easier!
prepping for your pillar candle
The first step is choosing your wax. Make sure the wax you choose is specifically blended for pillar candles, as a soft container wax will not work. Pillar candles need a hard wax that will easily release from the mold when it is fully cool.
There are several types of pillar wax on the market from paraffin blends to soy blends to 100% soy or vegetable waxes. It’s all about your preference in aesthetic, price and marketing purposes.
One thing to remember, 100% soy can sometimes be a bit tricky as there are a few issues that are harder to control for new candle-makers.
Choose your mold, there are many different types available. Keep in mind most molds are made for cotton wicks so they will have a hole in the bottom.
With a cotton wick pillar candle, you pull the wick through the bottom of the mold and seal it off with any number of choices from plugs to waxes to tapes and when the candle is finished, the bottom becomes the top.
When making a pillar candle with a wooden wick, we are going to seal off the bottom and the bottom will stay the bottom.
choose your wick
Since you do not want a full burn pool with a pillar candle we suggest using our Wick Selection Guide and then sizing down by one or even two sizes as a starting point for your testing (try one wick in the recommended size, one that is slightly smaller in width, and one that is slightly smaller in thickness).
There are many factors that determine if a candle will burn properly including wax blend, fragrance load and type, dye, additives, vessel diameter, the temperature the wax is heated to and poured at, wick size, and this is only a partial list.
You are always going to want to try a few different wicks and then conduct a burn test to see which is most ideally suited to your candle project.
Any change at all (for example, a different fragrance, but at the same load) can have a direct affect on the burn, sometimes minimal and other times quite substantial.
Ok, let’s make a pillar candle!
what you'll need
- Pillar blend wax
- Mold
- Mold sealer
- Fragrance
- Dye (optional)
- Wick, wick clip, glue dot
- Pouring pot
- Thermometer
- Heat gun (optional)
- A good attitude
how to make a pillar candle
- Cover the area you will be working on just in case there are any spills or mishaps.
- Seal the bottom of your mold with mold putty or sealer.
- Set the wick in the wick clip, attach the wick sticker and place it in the bottom center of the mold.
- Melt your wax to the recommended temperature for your wax blend.
- Add the dye per manufacturer’s instructions.
- When the wax cools to the suggested pouring temperature for your wax type (refer to the manufacturer’s instructions), it is time to add the fragrance. Make sure to spend a couple minutes briskly stirring the fragrance into the wax.
- Slowly pour the wax into the mold, filling close to the top but being sure to leave at least 1” of the wick above the wax – remember, this is the top of the finished candle and you will need enough wick to do top pours, trim and eventually light.
- Be sure to poke relief holes as the candle cools.
- As the candle cools it will shrink and form a dip so it is going to require 2-3 top pours to get an even finish.
- Once the final pour has been made and the candle has cooled completely, if the surface isn’t smooth you can use a heat gun to quickly smooth out the top.
- Release the candle from the mold, trim the wick to 3/16”
You now have a truly unique product, a wooden wick pillar candle!
If you require longer wicks than are listed on our website, contact us at hello@makesy.com and we can customize for your project.
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