Wick Preparation and Placement

For some reason, getting the wick in the middle of the candle was always a real problem for me when I first started making candles. So, I just starting wimping out. The easiest thing for me to do was to choose a pretabbed wick and hot-glue the tab to the bottom of the container. Then, roll the excess wick around a wooden cooking skewer or even a pencil,  then pour the gel in.

Of course, you could just pour the gel in first and then try to arrange the wick. If you’re trying to avoid bubbles in your candle, dip the wick in some melted gel and leave it there until the gel stops bubbling. Then remove the wick and run your fingers down the wick to remove just the excess gel. Roll the top of the wick around a wooden skewer or pencil and position it over the candle container.

But don’t get too comfortable because somehow even the most perfectly placed wick can wander off track as the gel candle cools. If this happens, I guess there are only two choices, live with it or try to fix it. If you think the wick has to be moved, the easiest way is just to heat up the candle in an oven (not over 175^) until the gel melts and then try repositioning it.

Now that I only make candles for my own enjoyment, I don’t bother with the wick unless I think it’s moved over too close to the edge of the glass holder, then I’ll mess with it so I don’t have to worry about my glass container cracking.