Wooden wick, .02 white, 12.7 mm

This is a wooden wick for container candles that gently crackles like a fireplace when burning. It replaces a cotton wick where the candle is meant to have a different character: the flame of a wooden strip is wider and calmer, and together with the sound it creates an atmosphere that cotton cannot offer. The wick comes complete with a metal stand, so you can set it in the container without any additional accessories.

The strip is made from certified wood and manufactured in the USA. The manufacturer describes it as natural, allergen-free and biodegradable. The white colour works best with light-coloured waxes and clear containers where the wick should visually recede.

What do the .02 and 12.7 mm designations mean

• Strip width – the wick is 12.7 mm wide (half an inch). The width determines the flame size and how wide a melt pool the candle will form.
• Thickness .02 – the manufacturer's designation for the thickness of a single strip. The higher the number, the thicker the strip and the more wax it draws. A thinner strip produces a smaller flame, which is why the .02 thickness is better suited to narrower containers and softer waxes.
• Single strip – a simple wick without an additional strip. It burns more calmly and less intensely than double or cross wicks designed for wide containers.

Stand included

The packaging includes a round metal stand with a circular base that holds the strip upright on the bottom of the container. The strip slides into the stand and is held by its own tension — no gluing required. The stand is fixed to the container bottom with an adhesive dot or a drop of hot wax before pouring, to prevent it from shifting during the fill. The same stand also fits double and cross wooden wicks, so it can be used for candles with other strip configurations.

Working with a wooden wick

A wooden wick behaves differently from a cotton one and requires your own testing with the specific combination of wax, fragrance and container. Recommended procedure:

• Attach the stand with the fitted strip to the centre of the container bottom and pour the wax at the temperature recommended for that wax. The strip must remain upright and centred, otherwise the candle burns unevenly.
• Once the candle has fully set, trim the strip just above the wax surface — roughly 3 – 6 mm. A wooden wick that is too long smokes and burns unstably; one that is too short will drown in the molten wax.
• On the first burn, let the candle burn until the melt pool reaches the container walls. This prevents tunnelling.
• Before each subsequent lighting, remove the charred end of the strip. Wood only burns from a fresh surface.

Suitable for products such as

• Container candles of smaller and medium diameter where a single .02 strip is sufficient.
• Scented candles made from vegetable and blended waxes that are meant to be decorative as well as atmospheric through the sound of burning.
• Candles with light-coloured wax in clear containers where the white strip does not stand out.

Wooden wicks are not intended for freestanding candles without a container. The strip needs the support of a stand and molten wax contained by the container walls.

Good to know

The amount of fragrance composition and additives affects the burning of wooden wicks more than it does cotton. A candle with a higher fragrance load or with colorants may need a thicker or double strip. Harder waxes with a higher melting point generally require a stronger wick than soft vegetable waxes.

The strip is made from natural wood, so individual pieces may vary slightly in grain and shade. This has no effect on burning, but keep in mind during testing that one piece may not perform exactly like the next. Conduct burn tests on at least two to three candles.

Keep wooden wicks dry. A damp strip is difficult to light and burns unevenly.

Frequently asked questions