Home Made Wicks for Candles & Oil Lamps

Candle Making: How To Make A Candle Wick
http://www.essortment.com/candle-making-make-candle-wick-51371/

Most people would rather buy pre-made candle wicks when making homemade candles. But with little money and small effort, homemade wick making can be fun and easy.

The "wick" of a candle is a name for a bundle of fibers that, when braided together, are used to draw oil or wax up into a flame to be burned in a lamp or candle. The word comes from Anglo Saxon "wecca" and Old English "weyke or wicke."

The wick is hands-down the most important element of a candle. After all, a candle without a wick is just a big block of wax. It acts as a fuel pump in all kinds of candles and supplies liquefied wax to the top, where the flame is produced. On that same note, a wick that has no wax is just a piece of string.

There are three main types of wicks:

(1) Cored wicks are just basic braided wicks with a piece of metal wire in the middle used for sturdiness and to create more heat when burning larger candles. I personally will never burn metal core wicks again after reading about the health hazards. Apparently, they release dangerous amounts of lead into the air and are very unsafe, especially for children.

(2) Flat-braided wicks are mainly used for making tapered candles. They look like a normal braided wick except squished flat.

(3) Square-braided wicks are mainly used for making block candles, which is any candle that is not tapered. In other words, for square or round candles.

To get started making a basic braided wick, take 3 strips of heavy cotton string or cotton yarn and soak them in a mixture of 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of boric acid and 1 cup of water for 12 hours. (Or if you prefer, you can use a mixture of turpentine, lime water and vinegar.) Hang them to dry. When dried, braid the three strands together to make a wick. Be sure to cut the strips into lengths that are four to six inches longer than you want the candles to be. A pair or scissors or a knife will suffice as a trimming tool.

The next step is to prime the wick or wicks. To do this, dip the wick or wicks into hot wax until the wick is completely saturated with wax. You will know when it is saturated because it will start to release bubbles. (Use a small paperclip to dip them so as to not burn your fingers.) Remove them from the wax, pull them tight, and dip them into water, then lay on wax paper. Dab the excess moisture off with a paper towel. Let them dry on the wax paper for at least 30 seconds. For a stiffer wick, it is recommended to repeat this step more than once. Primed wicks can be stored in rolled up newspaper.

General Warnings:

Be very careful when using hot wax. At its boiling point, it is flammable. Never use water to put out a wax fire, as it will just spread the wax and thus spread the fire. Instead, use a fire extinguisher or baking soda to put out the fire.

Always use a double boiler when heating wax.

Always keep children and pets away from the candle making area.

Never pour hot wax down your sink. It will cool there and plug the pipes up.

Don't leave hot wax unattended, even if in a double boiler.

Homemade Wicks-Salt Them First!
* Link Unavailable. An 'Oldie but Goodies post, From APN that I had on file & wanted to share it!  

Hat Tip: Muzik @ American Preppers Network

If you're making your own wick out of old cotton, you should salt the wick before using, to keep the amount of smoke down. Soak the wick in salt water, then put it on a tray and heavily coat both sides with salt. Let it dry and shake the excess off, then use.

(Some sources say to mix some borax in with the salt water, and to use some borax with the salt when you're drying the wick.)

I made an oil lamp out of a medium-sized squat glass salsa jar (14 oz. Taco Bell). First, I cut the bottom off an aluminum can and poked a hole in the bottom. You're going to use this to hold the wick while floating on top of the oil. The rounded part will be facing up.

I then poured oil in the jar and let the salted wick soak in the oil for about half an hour. Next, I stuffed the wick through the hole in the can bottom. I left about one-quarter inch above the rounded part of the can (the longer the wick the brighter the flame, but also the greater chance of smoking) and set the assembly floating on top of the oil.

A couple of other notes about making wicks:
* Link Unavailable. An 'Oldie but Goodies post, From APN that I had on file & wanted to share it!  

  Hat Tip: Muzik @ American Preppers Network

Don't use TOO much string! When I first started making candles, I wanted to make my own wicks. I did the soaking in borax (boric acid), etc. Two problems there: the first was that I had cut off three strips of string three feet long, thinking to braid it now and cut off what I needed later. BIG mistake! The ends of the string kept getting tangled as the braiding progressed.

The second was that the salt, etc. crystallized in the string. Whenever I ran my fingers over the string while braiding it "flaked" off onto the floor as well as my hands. One possible solution is to soak the string in the solution; then, when saturated, tie one end of the string to something strong and the other end to something heavy. This will stretch out the string and squeeze out the excess while it dries.


Also, find something strong to tie the string to before braiding. You'll want to keep the tension strong on the braid as you're making it.

For the end result, the string rated at 2lbs made wicks that were too thick for all but the pillar candles larger than 3.5 inches across. The string rated at 1lb was still a little thick, but that may be because I didn't keep enough tension on it while braiding.

 Hat Tip: Muzik @ American Preppers Network



More from Muzik about Salting Wicks:
* Link Unavailable. An 'Oldie but Goodies post, From APN that I had on file & wanted to share it!    

One thing to do: Make a solution of half a cup of water, two tablespoons salt and one teaspoon borax. Heat the water until the salt and borax dissolve.

Next, put your wick material in there for a few minutes until it's saturated. Pull the material out of the water and let it dry overnight (or you can heat it in the oven if you're impatient.

After that, use your wick as usual. The salt and borax will help reduce the smoking of the wick.

I made mine a while back, putting the oil in an old salsa bottle. This way I can put a lid on the bottle when I'm done with it, and keep from spilling the oil.

This helps you appreciate the biblical admonition to keep your wicks trimmed and your lamps full of oil!

How to make a candle wick – Homemade candle wick
https://www.smoothcandles.com/how-to-make-a-candle-wick-homemade/

  Have you ever wonder, while reading the article of DIYs on how to make different types of candles, about the candle wick? If yes, then you are at right page!!! I am that kind of person who loves to try out different DIYs at my spare time but always avoid the candle making stuff as candle wicks are always missing from my head.

So today we have come up with DIYs project cum solution to this problem of how to make a candle wicks. ---CONTINUED---

How To Make DIY Candle Wicks With Cotton String
http://www.sewhistorically.com/how-to-make-diy-candle-wicks-with-cotton-string/

  Did you know that you can make your own candle wicks with things you already have at home? In this short tutorial I’ll show you how to make DIY candle wicks with cotton string!   ---CONTINUED---

   You’ll need:

   100% cotton string
   scissor
   optional: vegetable oil or salt

How to Make Candle Wicks
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Candle-Wicks

You can buy candle wicks to use in homemade candles, but you can just as easily make your own wicks. Borax-treated candle wicks are the most conventional, but you can also make wooden wicks or moveable wicks with a few basic materials.    ---CONTINUED---