Crackling wood-wick candle

A soy candle with a flat wooden wick that gives a soft crackle and a wide, low flame. Wick width and trim length do most of the work.

Difficulty: ●●○
Time: active 1 h · cure 1–2 weeks

Steps Calculator

Safety first

Never leave melting wax unattended, not even for a minute. Keep children and pets out of the work area.
Melt wax in a pouring pitcher set in a pan of simmering water (a double boiler). Never put a pitcher or pan of wax on direct heat.
Use a candle or candy thermometer the whole time and stay inside the wax supplier's temperature range. Overheated wax smokes, discolors and can reach its flash point.
If wax catches fire: turn off the heat and smother it with a metal lid or a thick layer of baking soda. NEVER use water, which flashes to steam and throws burning wax. Keep a lid and a class B or ABC extinguisher within reach.
Wear closed shoes and keep a bowl of cool water nearby for splashes on skin. Hot wax sticks and keeps burning, so cool a burn under running water for 20 minutes.
Handle fragrance oils with gloves and ventilate the room while they're hot.
Put warning labels on any candle you give away: burn within sight, keep away from children, pets, drafts and anything flammable, trim the wick to 1/4 in (6 mm) before each burn, burn no more than 4 hours at a time, and stop when 1/2 in (13 mm) of wax is left.
Use wooden wicks sold for candles only. Craft sticks and untreated wood aren't made to burn evenly.

Steps

Weigh your wax and fragrance using the calculator results. Cover your work surface with paper or a silicone mat.
Clean, dry and pre-warm the jars until they're warm to the touch, about 100–120°F (38–49°C).
Slide each wooden wick into its metal clip, then glue the clip to the exact center of the jar and press it down. If the wicks aren't pre-primed, dip them in melted wax, let them cool, and trim them so they stand about 1/2 in (13 mm) above where the wax surface will be. Hold them straight with a clothespin.
Melt the wax in the double boiler. Heat to 185°F (85°C) to add fragrance.
Off the heat, add the fragrance and stir gently for a full 2 minutes.
Cool to 125–140°F (52–60°C) and pour slowly, leaving 1/2 in (13 mm) of headspace. Keep the wick vertical.
Let the candles set for 24 hours at room temperature, then heat-gun any rough tops.
Trim the wooden wick to about 1/8 in (3 mm) above the wax. Too tall drowns it or gives a big, smoky flame; too short won't hold a flame.
Cure with lids on for 1–2 weeks.
Test-burn one candle before making more or giving any away. Burn it 1 hour per inch of diameter (up to 4 hours) and check that the melt pool reaches the edge without soot or a flame taller than about 1 in (2.5 cm). Adjust the wick size and repeat.
Before every burn, snap or clip off the black, charred tip so only clean wood shows, and brush the bits away from the wax. Charred wood in the melt pool is a fire hazard.

Candle calculator

Wax Container holds (fl oz of water)Fill it with water to your fill line and measure How many Fragrance load (%)% of wax weight Jar width (in)Inside diameter at the widest point Wick series Units Scent

Wax25.5 oz

722 g · 25.5 oz

Fragrance oil2.0 oz

58 g · 2.0 oz

Total pour27.5 oz

6.9 oz each

Starting wickECO 6–8

Test burn 3 h, then check the melt pool.

Melt to: 113–119°F (45–48°C) or a little above
Add fragrance at: 185°F (85°C), then stir gently for 2 minutes
Pour at: 125–140°F (52–60°C)
Cure: 7–14 days before judging the scent throw

Melt about 10% more wax than the total. Some always stays in the pitcher.

If something goes wrong

Wick won't stay lit or drowns: Trim it to 1/8 in (3 mm) and remove the char. If it still drowns, the wick is too narrow or the fragrance load is too heavy: go up a width or add a booster ply.
No crackle: Crackle needs a wick that burns cleanly at the right trim. Remove char before lighting, keep the trim at 1/8 in, and try a thinner wick or one with a booster ply.
Flame too tall or soot: The wick is too wide or too long. Trim shorter or drop to a narrower wick. Keep the candle away from drafts.
Tunneling (the flame burns a hole down the middle): The first burn was too short or the wick is too small. Burn 1 hour per inch of diameter (up to 4 hours) so the melt pool reaches the edge. For a candle that already tunneled, wrap foil around the rim with a hole in the middle and burn to even it out. Go up a wick size next batch.
Wet spots (patches where the wax pulled away from the glass): Pre-warm clean, dry jars before pouring and let them cool slowly at room temperature, not in the fridge or a cold draft. They're cosmetic only. A heat gun on the outside of the glass can reseat small ones.
Weak hot throw (smells good cold, faint when lit): Let it cure the full time with a lid on. Make sure fragrance went in at the wax's add-fragrance temperature and was stirred for a full 2 minutes. Check the wick gives a full melt pool within 2–3 hours. Try the upper end of the wax's fragrance range next time, never over its maximum.