Should I Be Trimming Candle Wicks?

To trim or not to trim…this is a big question! And we hear from our customers all the time with questions about trimming candle wicks and what to do!

We want to not only provide you with answers to questions but we also want to make sure that the products you purchase from us last and you get the most use for the money you spend. By passing on some simple tips to our customers, we can achieve not only providing great products but also information to get the most out of them!

Trimming candle wicks is important! By trimming a candle wick to ¼” before each burn, you will get the optimal burn time over the life of your candle. The trimming of the wick not only helps with burn time, but it also ensures you don’t get any residue or soot from your wick.

Wicks that are left untrimmed can be messy, they can produce a smoky effect, and will burn faster.

Make sure to use scissors to trim your wick. Also make sure to not trim your wick too close to the wax. Trimming a wick too closely to the wax will make it hard to light or stay lit. We suggest you stick to the 1/4” length.

We suggest that you let you candle completely cool before trying to trim the wick. You can even wait until the next time you go to burn your candle and trim the wick then.

The black wick should be cut and removed from the candle. If the cut off wick gets in the wax, the look is not very appealing and can be difficult to get out of the wax pool once it is cooled and hardened.

Folks ask about which candles you should trim the wicks on, we say you can trim any true candle wick. Our candle wicks are 100% cotton and are easy to cut. Most tealight and votive candles already have a shorter wick that will not need to be trimmed. Pillar candles, sphere candles, floating candles, and taper candles all might need a trimming prior to lighting. Different manufacturers have different lengths of wicks so each case might be a bit different. A simple inspection and measuring of the wick will determine if you will need to trim the wick.

Simple and Easy trimming of a candle wick will lead to AMAZING candle glow each and every time!