What is a Drowning Wick
A drowning wick refers to a wick that becomes extinguished due to being overwhelmed by its own melted wax. This can happen for various reasons, with one common cause being that the wick has been trimmed too short.
How to Fix a Drowning Wick
This is an issue that is easy to fix. You typically will not need to perform this process but if you observe that your candle is self-extinguishing in the wax pool or the flame is very small and on the verge of going out, removing a small amount of wax will fix this issue. Doing this effectively increases the length of the wick allowing it to burn more efficiently with a stronger flame. Follow the steps below and watch the quick video.
5 Steps to fix a drowning wick
- Extinguish the burning candle
- Fold a paper towel in a manner that will fit into the candle vessel
- Avoiding the hot, but extinguished wick, dip the paper towel into the liquid wax pool. The paper towel will readily absorb the liquid wax. Be very diligent not to let the paper towel catch fire on the hot wick.
- Let the paper towel absorb the wax for 5 to 10 seconds.
- Relight the candle and you will immediately see an improved and stronger flame. If not enough, repeat the process.
