Candle Wick Guide: How to Choose the Right Wick Size

If you’ve ever poured a perfect-looking candle only to watch it tunnel down the middle, soot up the jar, or drown its own flame, you’ve met the consequences of the wrong wick. 

When I started testing soy jars for our studio, I assumed fragrance choice and wax type were the big levers. They matter—but nothing changed burn quality more dramatically than wick size. 

This guide distills what I’ve learned through dozens of A/B tests across soy, coconut-soy, and paraffin blends, so you can choose the right wick with confidence. 

We’ll keep this practical and science-backed, with the same language makers use when searching: candle wick size chart, wick size for candles, best wicks for making candles, wick size guide, and best candle wicks for soy wax.

Why Wick Size Matters in Candle Making

Wick size controls how a candle burns—heat, flame, fragrance, and safety all depend on it. A wick that’s too small causes tunneling and weak scent throw. 

A wick that’s too large overheats the wax, creates soot, and forms carbon “mushrooms.” The right wick melts wax evenly, produces a steady flame, and releases fragrance oils at the right rate for a strong, hot throw.

In practice, soy wax often needs a slightly larger wick than coconut or paraffin because it’s denser and insulates heat. 

That one size difference can change a candle from faint and uneven to clean-burning and room-filling. Correct wick sizing also balances burn time—long enough to last, but strong enough to perform.

Every candle wick size chart or wicking guide is just a starting point. Your real goal is to match wick size to your wax, vessel, fragrance load, and dye so the candle delivers consistent scent, clean glass, and safe burn every time.

Understanding Candle Wick Basics

A candle wick isn’t just a string—it’s the engine of your candle. When lit, it melts nearby wax, draws liquid upward, and vaporizes it into fuel for the flame. The wick’s thickness and construction (cotton, ECO, CD, LX, HTP, zinc-core, or wooden) control how much wax it can burn, shaping flame size, melt pool, and scent throw.

Common Wick Series and Why They Differ

• CD (Stabilo): Reliable in soy and parasoy, strong melt pool, reduces tunneling.
  
• ECO: Cotton-paper blend, clean-burning, self-trimming, ideal for natural soy or coconut candles.
  
• LX: Flat cotton, curbs mushrooming and soot, great for paraffin blends.
  
• HTP: Cotton with paper filament, bends into the hottest flame zone for complete combustion.
  
• Zinc-Core: Metal-stiffened, stays upright in paraffin pillars and votives.
  
• Wooden Wicks: Crackling sound, best in coconut or soy blends, need careful sizing.

What Changes Wick’s Behavior

Four factors affect wick performance:

1. Wax type: Soy and beeswax need larger wicks than paraffin.
   
2. Container size/shape: Wider jars require stronger wicks; narrow necks restrict airflow.
   
3. Fragrance load: Heavy scents (like vanilla or amber) burn hotter and may need upsizing.
   
4. Dyes/additives: Colorants and UV stabilizers absorb heat, altering burn.

This is why every candle wick size chart is a starting point. Real results depend on testing with your wax, fragrance, and vessel combination to find the best candle wicks for soy wax or any other blend.

Candle Wick Size Chart

Choosing the right wick size is one of the hardest parts of candle making, especially if you work with different wax types. Every wax behaves differently—soy wax is dense and needs more heat, paraffin melts easily, and coconut or blends sit somewhere in between. That’s why a candle wick size chart is useful: it gives you a reliable starting point.

Remember, wick charts are guides, not guarantees. Your fragrance load, dye, container shape, and additives can all change how a wick performs. Always use these charts as a baseline, then run your own test burns to fine-tune.

Below is a comprehensive wick size guide adapted and expanded from what suppliers publish (CD, ECO, LX, HTP, Wooden, Zinc). It includes soy, paraffin, coconut, and blends, so you don’t have to flip between multiple sources.

1. Container Wax Wick Guide

2. Pillar Candle Wick Guide

3. Wick Series Reference Charts

Premier 700 Series Wicks

Zinc Core Wicks

HTP Wicks

ECO Wicks

CD (Stabilo) Wicks

Wooden Wicks

How to Choose the Right Wick Size (Step-by-Step Guide)

Finding the right wick size isn’t guesswork—it’s a structured process that balances science with hands-on testing. 

I learned this early when my first batch of soy candles either tunneled or smoked, depending on which wick I tried. 

Once I broke it down step by step, the results became predictable and much easier to replicate. Here’s the same process you can follow.

Step 1 – Measure Your Container Diameter

The first step is measuring your vessel across the widest opening. For jars, tins, or tumblers, this means the inside rim, not the base. 

Wick charts and guides are built around container diameter, so accuracy here matters. For example, a 2.75-inch tin usually falls in the “medium container” range, while a 3.25-inch tumbler is closer to “large.” 

If you mis-measure, you’ll choose a wick that simply can’t reach the wax edges, which leads to tunneling and wasted fragrance.

Step 2 – Match Wax Type with Wick Recommendation

Not all waxes burn the same. Paraffin is less viscous and requires less heat, while soy and beeswax are denser and insulate more. 

That’s why soy often needs a larger wick compared to paraffin in the same jar. In my own tests, an 8-oz soy candle that worked with a CD-10 often needed only a CD-8 when poured in paraffin. 

Coconut blends fall somewhere in between. This is where wick size charts and wicking guides help, but you’ll still need to adjust depending on your recipe.

Step 3 – Consider Fragrance & Dyes

Fragrance oils and colorants influence wick performance more than many beginners realize. Heavy fragrance loads, especially gourmand or resin-rich oils (like vanilla or amber), often require stepping up a wick size. 

Dyes can also thicken the melt pool, making it harder for the flame to maintain balance. For instance, I once poured two identical soy candles—one plain and one dyed deep red with the same fragrance load. 

The plain version burned perfectly with ECO-10, but the dyed candle needed ECO-12 to avoid tunneling. Always account for fragrance strength and dye concentration when selecting wick size.

Step 4 – Run Burn Tests

Even with charts and guidelines, there’s no substitute for test burns. Wick sizing is ultimately trial and error, because every formula is unique. A correct test includes burning the candle for several hours, checking flame stability, melt pool depth, hot throw, and glass temperature. 

If the wick struggles or mushrooms, adjust up or down accordingly. I keep a notebook with burn logs, recording wax type, wick series, fragrance load, and observations—this has saved me countless hours when repeating batches.

Remember, wick charts are starting points, not final answers. Your testing confirms the true “best wick for your candle.”

Candle Wick Testing Tips (for Perfect Burn)

Testing is where good candles become great. To get accurate results, consistency matters.

• Trim the wick to about 1/4 inch before each test burn. A long wick exaggerates flame height and can give you misleading results.
  
• Test in a controlled environment away from fans, air vents, or open windows. Drafts make flames flicker and tunnel unevenly.
  
• Take notes during each test: flame size, how quickly the melt pool reaches the edge, soot buildup, and scent throw strength.
  
• Use sampler packs of multiple wick sizes within a series. This saves money and helps you quickly identify the right wick without buying in bulk.

Personally, I always test at least two adjacent sizes (e.g., ECO-10 and ECO-12) in the same vessel. That side-by-side comparison often reveals which wick is truly balanced for your recipe.

Final Thoughts

Wick size is the single most important choice in candle making because it controls safety, scent, and burn quality. Start with a candle wick size chart to narrow your options, but don’t stop there. 

Every wax, fragrance, and vessel combination behaves differently, which means burn testing is non-negotiable.

Yes, it takes time, and yes, you’ll sometimes feel like you’re wasting supplies—but every failed test is a lesson that saves you frustration in future batches. 

Once you find the right wick, your candles will burn longer, smell stronger, and leave customers (or gift recipients) impressed with both performance and quality.

The bottom line: wick sizing is a journey of testing, not guessing. And once you nail it, you’ll never look at a candle flame the same way again.