Wood wicks are handmade in the Essence + Alchemy garden laboratory with natural and untreated British sourced FSC wood. Being a natural product they can vary in wood thickness and grain, which will cause every candle to burn a little bit differently, but despite these variations, wood wicks provide a unique burning experience with their warm glow and sounds of crackling wood fires. By following a few candle care tips, you can get the most efficient burn and scent throw from your candle.
Lighting the wick.
Tilt the candle slightly and light the wick on an angle where the wax meets the wick. This will allow the flame to slowly reach across the wick. If on the first lighting the wick fails to light properly, stops burning, doesn't seem to be burning very strongly, or is smoky, extinguish the flame and trim the wick by carefully removing all the loose black bits and relight it until it ignites again. You should now see a much stronger and cleaner burning flame. You can use a special wick trimming tool (candle wick trimmers) or it's just as easy to use your fingers to gently knock the black bits off the wick.
Spend time with your candle.
The first burn of a candle is the most important. Please make sure that the first burn is a good length of time and that the wax on the surface of the candle has melted right to the edge of the container. It's best to light the candle when you have time to do this. Candle wax has a memory and if you don’t allow your candle to burn to the edge of the container on the first burn it will create a memory ring, and once a candle has a memory ring on every subsequent burn the melted wax pool will burn to the diameter of the memory ring and ‘tunnel’ down the wick rather than burn evenly out to the edge of the container. If this happens, the wick can eventually drown in the wax and won't stay lit.
Some good news, if there is a small amount of solid wax at the edge of the container, the wood-wick can generally sort this out on the second burn if left to burn sufficiently long enough to melt the wax at the sides of the container.
Always refer to the candle care instructions supplied with your candle.
Don't burn your candle for too long.
Burning your candle for too long, can cause carbon buildup on the wick. This is the result of the candle consuming more wax than it can burn releasing soot into the air and onto your candle container. For best results always burn your candle until the wax has melted to the sides of the container. Remember that wax is a fuel and if you burn your candle for too long, it will start to burn faster. Never burn your candle for more than 4 hours at a time and cool for at least 2 hours before relighting.
Always trim your wick before relighting.
To ensure that your wick relights and remains debris free, between burns i.e. before relighting your candle please remember to trim the wick as above by removing all of the loose burnt pieces from the top of the wick (see video). If your wick appears to be producing smoke at any time and isn’t in a draught, the wick may be too long and may need trimming. Extinguish the flame, trim the wick and relight.
Cleaning the container.
Wash out any residual wax with warm soapy water - the wax is biodegradable. Your containers can now be repurposed or refilled with Essence + Alchemy solid refill candle inserts. Find out more here.
