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Finally figured out why my emergency candles were smoking like crazy
Been lighting these cheap tall candles I stocked up on from the dollar store during storms for years. Always had this thick black smoke and flickering mess. Last week a buddy who does camping stuff saw me and said 'dude your wicks are way too long.' Turns out I was supposed to trim them to like 1/4 inch before lighting. I never even knew that was a thing. Made a huge difference - steady flame, no smoke, and they lasted way longer. Anyone else miss this basic prep tip or just me?
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johnflores3mo ago
Man I felt SO dumb when I learned this. I was literally blaming the candle companies for making smoky junk when really I was just out here running a 2 inch wick like some kind of candle terrorist. My wife still gives me crap about the black ring on the ceiling from one particularly bad batch.
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drew6904mo ago
Ngl I've been burning candles for years and never once trimmed a wick. Seems like one of those things where yeah it helps but it's not like the smoke is gonna burn your house down or anything.
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black.joel4mo ago
Drew I used to roll my eyes at wick trimming too. Figured it was just candle snob nonsense. But then I had this one candle that started smoking like a campfire halfway through and left black soot all over my coffee table. Took me forever to scrub that off. Tried a new candle the same way but trimmed the wick first and it burned clean the whole time. Now I grab the scissors every couple burns. Saves me from having to clean soot off stuff and the candle actually lasts longer.
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