How to Make Candle wicks

You can buy wick yarn to use when making your own candles at home, but you can also make your own wicks easily. Borax-coated candle wicks are the most familiar, but there are also wooden or removable candle wicks made with just a few basic ingredients.

Table of Contents

Borax-coated candle wicks ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Boil water. Boil 1 cup (250ml) of water in a small saucepan or kettle. Heat until the water comes to a simmer, but not vigorously.

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Dissolve salt and borax. Pour hot water into a glass bowl. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons borax. Stir to dissolve ingredients. ^{[2] X Research Source}

You will use this borax mixture to process the material used to make candle wicks. Treating candle wicks with borax can make candles burn brighter and longer. Besides, this also reduces the smoke and ash generated during candle burning.
Keep borax out of the reach of children and pets as it can cause a toxic reaction if swallowed or inhaled.

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Soak the cotton yarn for the wick into the mixture. Take a thick cotton rope and soak it in the borax mixture. Soak cotton rope in the mixture for 24 hours.

Make sure the cotton rope is longer than the height of the candle mold. If you don’t know the length of the candle, you can soak the cotton cord about 30cm long and then cut it short.
Rope is a good material for candle wicks, but almost any thick cotton rope will work. You can use cotton embroidery thread, chopped cotton towels, or clean shoelaces with the plastic removed. ^{[3] X Research Sources}
Soak cotton rope for 24 hours for best effect. You can still remove the cotton cord after soaking for about 20 minutes, but the results will not be as perfect as with a long soak.

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Dry cotton rope. Remove the cotton cord from the borax mixture using tongs. Hang cotton rope to dry for 2 or 3 days.

The cotton cord must be completely dry before proceeding to the next step.
Use a clothespin or similar clip to hang the soaked cotton cord in a warm, dry place. Place foil underneath the hanging rope so the liquid can flow down it.

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Boil wax. Break about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of candle wax. Heat the wax in a water bath.

If you don’t have a steamer, you can use a clean metal can and a small pot.
- Heat a pot of water with the water level from 2.5cm to 5cm high until simmering and evaporating without boiling vigorously.
- Place metal cans in hot water. Wait another minute for the can to heat up before adding the wax.
Melted wax can cause serious burns, so you need to handle it carefully during the process.

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Dip soaked cotton cord. Carefully place the borax-soaked dry cotton cord in the melted wax. Try to make the cotton rope covered with as much wax as possible.

In fact, you can use borax-soaked cotton cords without the need for additional waxing. However, wax makes the wick harder, easier to handle, and also makes it easier for the wick to catch fire.

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Dry cotton rope. Hang the cotton cord as done above and heat until the wax hardens. This step only takes a few minutes.

Similar to the step above, you will place a piece of foil underneath the hanging string so the wax can flow down there.

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Repeat the action. Dip and dry the cotton cord one or two more times to create a thick layer of wax.

A wick that is stiff but still supple is ideal.
If you don’t have enough wax to dip the wick one more time, you can place it on the foil and carefully pour the remaining wax onto the surface. Wait for the wick to dry on the foil instead of hanging it again.

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Use candle wicks as needed. Once the coating on the wick has dried, the process is complete and you can place the wick in the candle.

Wooden candle wicks ^{[4] X Research source}

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Shorten a small wooden stick. Use scissors to cut the wooden stick so that it is only about 2.5cm higher than the candle mold.

Use small wooden sticks that are available at craft stores. This type of rod has a diameter of 1.25 cm to 4 cm.
If you can’t think of a mold to use and don’t know how big the candle is, you can cut the stick to about 15 to 30cm. You can cut off the excess if needed because excess is better than lack.

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Soak the wooden stick in olive oil. Place the cut wooden stick in a deep dish. Pour in enough room-temperature olive oil to fully soak the wooden stick.

Although wood is a flammable material, soaking the wood in oil will cause the wick to ignite faster and the fire to burn more evenly. Olive oil is very clean when burned, so it is suitable for use when making candles.
Soak the wooden stick in the oil for at least 20 minutes. You can soak for up to 1 hour if you want to let the wooden stick absorb more oil and burn brighter.

Loose candle wicks

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Heat the wax in a water bath. Break about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of candle wax or paraffin and place in the top of the steamer. Heat until wax melts.

You can use fresh wax or old recycled candles. Break the wax into small pieces for faster melting.
If you don’t have a water-bath steamer, you can place a metal can or metal bowl in a small saucepan and fill the pot with water about 2.5cm to 5cm high. You only put the water in the pot, not the metal can or bowl.
Bring the water to a simmer, but don’t let it boil vigorously. Once the wax has melted, you will move on to the next step of the process.

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Bend one end of the stiff velvet yarn. Wrap one end of a stiff cotton cord around a pencil or pen. When the velvet oil touches the rest of the velvet and slightly overlaps, you will curl the rest up so that it is parallel to the edge of the pen.

After winding the stiff velvet yarn, you will slide it out of the pen.
Note that you should use velvet yarn made of cotton. Velvet yarns with synthetic fibers will not catch fire well and or be unsafe.

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Cut the velvet yarn. Use pliers to cut the cords short. The finished wick will have a length of about 1.25cm above the original circular bend.

After you’ve cut the velvet, use the pointed pliers to carefully bend the top of the wick to the center of the circle. This part of the wick will still face up, but should be centered.
If the rise of the wick is too heavy or not centered, the weight distribution will be unbalanced and the wick will tilt instead of standing upright.

Things you need

Borax covered candle wick

Water
Kettle
Salt
Borax
Tongs
Cotton rope
Clothespin or regular clip
Silver paper
Water proof steamer
Candle wax

Wood wicks

Small wooden sticks with diameters from 1.25 to 4cm
Drag
Deep plate
Olive oil
Tissue
Metal base

Loose candle wicks

Hard velvet yarn from cotton material
Pencil or ink
Tongs
Cross cutting pliers
Pointed pliers
Candle wax or paraffin
Water proof steamer
Silver paper

Steps

Borax-coated candle wicks [1] X Research Source

Wooden candle wicks [4] X Research source

Loose candle wicks

Things you need

Borax covered candle wick

Wood wicks

Loose candle wicks

Related Posts

Borax-coated candle wicks ^{[1] X Research Source}

Wooden candle wicks ^{[4] X Research source}