Candle Wick Size Selector
Tell us the vessel diameter, the wax, and the fragrance load. We'll suggest a starting wick across the CD, ECO, HTP, LX, CDN, RRD, and Zinc series — with construction notes — so you have a defensible first test pour instead of a guess.
Educational tool only — wick recommendations are starting points for test burns, not deterministic answers. Wick performance is empirical: every wax additive, dye load, FO supplier, vessel material, and ambient temperature shifts the optimal wick. Always test-burn before committing to a production run. Cross-reference your specific wax's technical data sheet and your fragrance oil supplier's notes.
Wick selector
Your candle
Tell us the vessel and the wax — we'll suggest two or three starting wicks per series.
Measure the inside diameter at the height the melt pool reaches at full burn — not the rim and not the floor. Most reference charts assume a 1.5"–4" range.
Soy container waxes (GW464, 444, AAK Golden Brands Q210) are the baseline.
Heavier FO loads need a hotter wick to clear the melt pool — we shift the recommendation a size up.
5 starting wicks suggested for 3 inch soy-container.
Suggested starting wicks
Closest match in our reference table — start with the smaller pick and step up if your test burn shows a melt pool under 1/2".
| Series | Size | Construction |
|---|---|---|
| CD | 14 | Flat cotton, all-purpose |
| CDN | 12 | Cotton with denser braid |
| ECO | 14 | Coreless cotton with paper threads |
| HTP | 105 | Cotton + paper composite |
| LX | 24 | Coreless flat cotton |
How to test-burn this wick
- Pour and cure the candle for at least 48 hours (soy waxes need 1–2 weeks for full scent throw).
- First burn: 3–4 hours. Measure the melt pool depth at the 2-hour mark and the diameter at the 3-hour mark.
- A correct wick produces a melt pool 1/4"–1/2" deep at hour 2, reaching the vessel wall by hour 3–4, with a flame 1"–1.5" tall and no mushrooming.
- Pool too shallow or under-reaching → step up one wick size. Pool too deep, smoking, or carbon ball on top of the wick → step down.
- Repeat with 4-hour burns until the candle reaches a stable melt pool and clean burn through the full vessel.
How wick sizing actually works
A "correct" wick is one that produces a full, clean melt pool 1/4–1/2" deep, reaching the vessel wall by hour 3–4 of burn, with a flame height of 1"–1.5" and no mushrooming, soot, or tunneling. The wick that achieves this depends on four things: the vessel diameter, the wax family (soy, paraffin, coconut blend, beeswax, palm), the fragrance load, and dye / additive load.
The CandleScience wick guide, the Flaming Candle reference chart, Bittercreek's wick guide, and Lone Star Candle Supply's recommendations all agree on the rough mapping below for the most-shipped wick series. They disagree at the 3"–4" range — at that size, every supplier recommends starting with two wick candidates and test-burning both. We show both, so you can pick which one to test first.
For pillars and votives, the math flips: pillar candles burn down (not out), so a smaller, stiffer wick — usually round, rigid, cotton (RRD) or a zinc-cored wick — is the standard pick. The tool surfaces a separate pillar table when you select that format.
Container reference: wick by diameter (soy baseline)
These are the unmodified baseline picks for soy container wax. The widget shifts the recommendation a size up for coconut blends, beeswax, or high fragrance loads, and a size down for paraffin.
| Diameter | CD | CDN | ECO | HTP | LX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5" | 4 | — | 4 | 41 | 12 |
| 2" | 8 | 7 | 8 | 83 | 18 |
| 2.5" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 104 | 22 |
| 3" | 14 | 12 | 14 | 105 | 24 |
| 3.5" | 18 | 16 | 16 | 126 | 28 |
| 4" | 22 | 22 | 22 | 136 | 2-22 |
Pillar reference: wick by diameter
| Diameter | RRD | Zinc |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5" | 34 | 34-24-18 |
| 2" | 40 | 44-32-18 |
| 2.5" | 47 | 51-32-18 |
| 3" | 55 | 60-44-18 |
Reference data compiled from CandleScience's wick guide, The Flaming Candle wick recommendations chart, Lone Star Candle Supply, Bittercreek Candle Supply, and the manufacturer technical references published under the Standlee Pharma label (CD, CDN, ECO, HTP, and LX series). Always cross-reference your specific wax's technical data sheet and run test burns before committing a wick to production.
Frequently asked questions
How do I pick the right candle wick size?
Match the vessel's inside diameter at the melt-pool height to a wick recommendation from your wax supplier's guide, then adjust up a size for high fragrance loads, dense coconut blends, or beeswax — and down a size for paraffin container wax. Test-burn for at least one 3–4-hour cycle and measure the melt pool. A correct wick produces a 1/4"–1/2" melt pool at hour 2 reaching the vessel wall by hour 3–4, with a 1"–1.5" flame and no mushrooming.
What's the difference between CD, ECO, HTP, and LX wicks?
All four are coreless cotton or cotton-paper composite wicks manufactured under the Standlee Pharma technical reference for the US craft-candle market. CD wicks are the general-purpose pick and the largest seller. ECO wicks are cotton with paper threads, designed specifically for natural waxes (soy, coconut). HTP wicks are cotton + paper braided together for a hotter, more consistent burn — popular in soy. LX wicks are coreless flat braided cotton optimized for soy and soy-blend waxes. CDN is essentially CD with a denser braid — useful for higher fragrance loads.
Do I need a different wick for soy versus paraffin?
Yes. Paraffin liquefies faster than soy and produces a thinner melt pool, so the same diameter vessel filled with paraffin generally takes a wick one size smaller than the soy equivalent — otherwise the candle mushrooms, smokes, or tunnels at the edges. Coconut blends go the other way: their density resists wicking and they typically need a size larger than the soy baseline.
When do I need to double-wick a candle?
Vessels wider than 4" almost always need double-wicking — a single wick at the center cannot reach the vessel wall before the candle hits its safe burn time (typically 4 hours). The standard double-wick configuration is two smaller wicks (e.g., two LX-22s or two CD-12s) spaced equally between the center and the wall, then a test burn to confirm both melt pools merge cleanly into a single pool by hour 3.
Does fragrance load affect wick size?
Yes — heavier fragrance loads need a hotter wick. Fragrance oil resists wicking and crowds out the wax that should be drawn up the wick, so a 10%-load soy candle in a 3" vessel typically needs a wick one size larger than the same candle at 6%. The selector tool applies this shift automatically when you pick a "high" or "max-load" fragrance preset.
Why is beeswax so hard to wick?
Pure beeswax has a high viscosity and low capillary action — it doesn't draw up cotton wicks well, so the candle burns down narrow and tunnels at the edges. Common fixes: size up the wick by two, switch to a square-braid wick designed for beeswax, or blend 15–25% coconut or soy wax into the beeswax to lower the viscosity. Many beeswax-blend candles use a CDN or square-braid wick at the size suggested for the next-larger diameter.
Or pick the right wick for every candle, with every batch
A selector points you at the starting wick for one candle. Ardent Seller turns every candle in your catalog into a recipe — with the wax, the wick (yes, the wick itself is an inventory item), the FO, the jar, and the labor — so the wick you tested burns into every future production run automatically, with the per-candle cost rolled into your retail and wholesale prices.
Wick inventory tracking
Track wicks like any other raw material — current stock, reorder point, lot, and last unit cost — so every production run decrements wicks automatically.
Recipe locked-in
Once a test burn passes, lock the wick into the recipe. Every future pour of that candle uses the same wick, the same FO load, and the same cost math.
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