How to Choose the Right Wick: A Maker’s Guide

Flat lay of candle-making tools, a lit candle, wick trimmer, and wicks with the title “How to Choose the Right Wick”.

Choosing the right wick is one of the most important steps in candle making. It determines how your candle burns, how strong your scent throw is, and whether your candle burns safely and cleanly. But here’s the truth:

Wick guides are just starting points. That’s all they are. They are not guarantees or formulas. They help narrow your choices, but they don’t know your wax, your fragrance load, your jar, or your additives.

To find the right wick, you need to test it in your specific formula and setup. This guide will help you understand the key factors that impact wick selection so you can make smarter choices and burn cleaner candles.

Why Wick Selection Matters

The wick controls your candle’s:

●  Burn rate and melt pool

●  Hot throw

●  Flame size and consistency

●  Safety (overheating, mushrooming, or sooting)

Factors That Affect Wick Performance

1. Vessel Size (Diameter)

The diameter of your vessel is one of the biggest factors when selecting a wick. Always measure the inside diameter at its widest point, especially for tapered or curved vessels.

Tip: If your vessel is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, always wick for the widest point. Wicking for the base can lead to overheating or even cracked glass near the top.

2. Wax Type

Each wax burns differently. Some need a hotter wick; others require a gentler flame.

  • Soy Wax (e.g., GB 444, 464): Slow-burning and dense - needs a hotter wick.

  • Coconut Blends: Soft and easy to burn - works best with a cooler wick.

  • Beeswax: Dense and high melt point - needs a larger or hotter wick.

  • Paraffin: Burns hot and fast - typically uses smaller wicks, though soft container blends (like IGI 6006) may need a medium wick for balance.

3. Fragrance Load & Fragrance Type

Fragrance oil affects wick performance. Heavy fragrance loads (10%+) may require a larger wick to burn cleanly, though 10% is often unnecessary. Thicker oils (vanilla, amber, citrus) need more heat, while essential oils burn cooler and can clog wicks if not blended well.

4. Dye & Additives

Colorants and additives like UV stabilizers or stearic acid can change how wax melts and burns. These may clog the wick or alter melt points, so always re-test when adding or removing any.

5. Wick Type

Not all wicks are created equal. Here’s a breakdown of the most common wick series and when to use them.

CD Wicks

CD wicks are strong, steady, and reliable for denser waxes. They feature a flat braid with a paper filament core, giving them the structure to push through tougher waxes.

Best for: Soy wax, soy blends with high soy content, palm, or beeswax blends.

Why it works: CD wicks burn hot enough to achieve a full melt pool in waxes with higher melt points.

Watch for: Mushrooming. Trim between burns to avoid soot.

If your candles are running too hot, step down to ECO or HTP.

ECO Wicks

ECO wicks burn cooler with a soft, controlled flame. Their subtle curl at the tip makes them somewhat self-trimming and great for softer waxes.

Best for: Coconut wax, soy/coconut blends, and softer paraffin blends.

Why it works: ECO’s lower heat prevents overheating or tunneling in soft waxes. They also help reduce soot and smoking.

Less ideal for: 100% soy. ECO can struggle to burn through soy’s dense surface unless perfectly sized.

Bonus tip: ECO’s wide, low flame spreads heat evenly across softer waxes.

CDN Wicks

CDN wicks are part of the same family as CD but burn slightly cooler and with a more controlled flame. They feature a flat braid with paper threads woven in for rigidity, but the tension in the braid gives them a steadier burn and less mushrooming than CDs.

Best for: 100% soy and soy blends like GB 464, Cargill C3, and Soy 10 or any wax where CD feels a little too hot.

Why it works: CDN wicks provide great melt pool formation and hot throw but with better stability and less soot compared to CD. They’re especially good in pure soy where you need solid heat without the aggressive flame.

Also good for: Coconut soy or Ceda Serica blends where ECO feels weak and CD burns too hot.

Not ideal for: Very soft waxes like Coconut Apricot Crème. They can overheat in low-melt-point blends.

Pro tip: If CD is tunneling on your soy blend or running too hot, switch to CDN in the same size range. It’s often the fix you’ve been looking for.

HTP Wicks

HTPs are the Goldilocks of wicks - not too hot like CD, not too cool like ECO. They use a flat braided cotton wick with a paper filament core, designed for a steady, moderate-hot burn.

Best for: Soy, soy/coconut blends, and paraffin.

Why it works: HTP offers balance and consistency. Perfect when ECO burns too cool or CD burns too hot.

Also good for: Lighter beeswax blends.

Watch for: In wide jars (3.5”+), you may need to double-wick for full coverage.

LX Wicks

LX wicks are the clean-burn specialists - low mushrooming, stable flame, and smooth burn profile. They’re a great option for makers prioritizing polish and precision.

Best for: Paraffin and paraffin-heavy blends.

Why it works: LX burns evenly and cleanly in easy-burning waxes without overpowering them.

Okay for: Low-soy blends (under 40%).

Not ideal for: 100% soy or palm - not hot enough for high melt-point waxes.

Wood Wicks

Wood wicks bring cozy crackle and aesthetic appeal but can be inconsistent. Even when cut to the same size, variations in wood grain, density, and moisture content affect performance.

Best for: Coconut wax and soy/coconut blends.

Also good for: Paraffin or para-soy blends, though they may run hot so test carefully.

Okay with: 100% soy when using booster wicks or double-ply strips.

Not ideal for: Hard waxes like palm or pure beeswax.

Real talk: Wood wicks are beautiful but unpredictable. They can drown or flare differently with every batch. Keep humidity and storage in mind, as those factors affect burn consistency.

Premier Wicks

Premier wicks (especially the 700 Series) are engineered for clean, stable flames with minimal mushrooming.

Best for: Softer waxes such as coconut, soy/coconut blends, and paraffin.

Why it works: Premier offers performance similar to CD but with smoother flame behavior and less soot.

Also good for: Coconut wax (sized down) or beeswax blends with softer bases.

Not ideal for: Hard waxes like palm and 100% soy.

Pro tip: If ECO is too weak and CD burns too hot, Premier 700s are an excellent middle ground, especially for softer wax systems.

How to Test Wicks

Testing is the only way to find your perfect wick. Here’s how to do it efficiently:

1. Pour three testers per fragrance/wax combo: one at your estimated or base recipe size, one smaller, one larger.

2. Keep everything else identical (jar, fragrance load, temp, dye, etc.).

3. Let candles harden 2–5 days (especially soy and soy blends).

4. Ensure cotton wicks are trimmed to ¼” and wood wicks to ⅛” before lighting, and perform test burns in 4-hour increments.

Track:

  • Flame height and stability

  • Melt pool diameter and depth

  • Time to full melt pool

  • Mushrooming or soot

  • Hot throw

  • Jar temperature

  • Burn time and posture

Testing is data, not failure. Each test tells you something about how your candle performs.

Common Wick Issues and What They Mean

Issue

Likely Cause

Solution

Tunneling

Wick too small or not trimmed

Wick up in size or test a hotter wick series and remember to adjust only one variable at a time to ensure accurate results.

Sooting

Wick too large or untrimmed

Wick down and trim wick before each burn.

Weak hot throw

Wick too small or excessive fragrance load

Evaluate your fragrance percentage and wick size. An overloaded wick can burn off oil too fast, reducing scent throw.

Overheating near top

Wick too large or sized for the bottom of a tapered jar

Always wick for the widest diameter and verify that the wick isn’t oversized for the vessel’s shape.

Jar too hot overall

Wick too large, untrimmed, or overly hot wick series

Wick down one size, trim wick before each burn, or try a cooler-burning wick series.

Final Thoughts

There is no one-size-fits-all wick. Charts are suggestions, not answers. They don’t know your setup, your fragrance, or your goals.

Test thoroughly. Take notes. Be consistent!

And remember, one person’s recipe won’t necessarily work with your setup. Test, test, test on your own. It’s the only way to truly learn how your wax and wick work together. 

Watch this video on my YouTube Channel!