When you begin to assemble the supplies that you will need to begin making candles, you will be very surprised at just how many different wicks there are.
It can get a little complicated to choose which wicks to use when making your candles.
It is extremely important that you choose the right wick.
If you make the wrong choice, your candle might not burn well or it might not even stay lit.
Picking the wrong wick would be a total waste of your time and money.
Let's go over the different types of wicks.
Wicks are either pre-tabbed or they are sold on spools.
Pre-tabbed wicks are used in container and votive candles.
They are very stiff and they come in varying lengths with a metal base attached.
A long metal piece, referred to as the wick collar or neck, connects the tab to the wick.
These long metal pieces also come in various lengths.
The sole purpose of the wick tab is to extinguish the flame once the wick has burned down to the metal neck of the tab.
This prevents the flame from continuing to burn and overheating and possibly breaking the container.
Spooled wicks are often used in pillar and taper candles and are purchased without tabs or you can attach the tabs by hand.
The materials that wicks are available in also vary.
They can be made from cotton, hemp, paper or with metal cores.
Each of these different types is used in certain situations and they offer different benefits.
You also must take into consideration the type of wax you will be using.
Some wicks will not work with some types of wax.
When you purchase wicks for your candles, you can ask your wax supplier which type of wick to use.
They can make suggestions for proper wick choices.
Some wick will burn too hot or not hot enough for the type of wax you are using so it is important to know which wick will work best before you start.
You can also do research regarding the different wicks and which ones to use with which wax type.
There are many books on the subject and there is a lot of information available on line at the various candle-making supply websites.
Wicks also come in many different sizes and they have numbers assigned to them.
It is important that you learn what these numbers mean to help you decide which types of wicks to purchase.
You will also need to determine what diameter your candle will be as this will also play an important part in the type of wick you will need.
Usually, the larger diameter candle you are making, the larger wick size you will need.
In particular, if you are making container candles, you need to be sure that the wick is big enough to melt the wax completely across the top of the candle.
You do not want your candle to burn with a small hole down the center.
This is called "tunneling".
When this happens, the wick burns the hole down the center and you are left with a tunnel of wax around the sides of the container which does not burn.
You do not want to use a wick that is too big for the candle you are making as this will cause the candle to burn too fast and will cause excessive smoking and soot.
In summary, there are many different factors that will determine which wicks will be best for your particular candles.
You certainly can and should get recommendations from manufacturers but you also will probably need to do some type of experimentation to see what really works for your particular candles and just what type of wicks you prefer to use.