Is There a Difference Between a Wooden Wick and a Cotton Wick?
We’re answering the age old question: Is there a difference in burning a candle with a wooden wick vs. a candle with a cotton wick?
Well, the answer is yes and no…
candle wick care basics
The basics of lighting and enjoying are simple and similar enough, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Most information that you’ll find suggests keeping a cotton wick trimmed to ¼”, and it is important to trim a wooden wick to 1/8” – 3/16”, and not any longer.
If the wick is too long, the wax will not pull up the wick, and the flame will dim or even extinguish.
the main differences between wooden and cotton wicks
Cotton wicks will often “mushroom” or “bloom.” Note: our performance cotton wicks don't have this issue! Wooden wicks don’t – basically, that means that they don’t create an ugly black ball on the top of the wick that lingers and smokes after burning for a while.
Wooden wicks burn much cleaner, and while they don’t get the carbon build-up that needs to be trimmed off of cotton wicks, they will develop a slight amount of ash at the tip of the wick. The ash can be easily broken off when cool before relighting or cut using a wick trimmer.
Sometimes, if there is too much ash build-up, you will notice the flame getting smaller, but once you remove it, the flame comes right back to life.
Just be careful not to leave any debris in your candle and follow all of the standard candle burning safety guidelines. Happy burning!
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