Why Your Wood Wick Keeps Going Out

Hex and Wax candles are scary, but we do not want you to be afraid of your wood wick. Wood wicks can be a learning curve, but once you master them, you will never want to return to ordinary cotton wicks again. Wood wicks burn cleaner, they sound like a crackling hearth, and our wicks are always sustainably sourced. Nothing scary about it—we leave that for the stories that come with your candle.

Solution One: Trim the wick or be cursed with darkness

The most important rule is that your wick must be trimmed between every burn. If you ignore this, your flame will sputter out. After each burn, a fragile layer of char will be left at the top of the wick. Before lighting again, pinch or trim away the excess. Leave the sturdy core intact, and only remove what flakes easily. Imagine a log in a fireplace: if the wood is too charred, it cannot catch again. We sell these beautiful wick trimmers in matte black or shiny gold.

Solution Two: Your wick is too long

A wooden wick should stand no taller than 3 to 6 millimeters. Our candles arrive to you pre-trimmed, but if a rare human-made mistake slips through, a trimmer or even nail clippers will correct it. Simply trim the wick down a little and try lighting it again.

If your wood wick keeps going out after these steps, send us a photo or video. With years of experience, we can help figure out your wick, though we can only advise on candles from our own collection.