Candle wick types, and which series to use
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Pick a wick series made for your wax, then find the size by testing. Most container makers use flat braided cotton wicks, often with paper threads woven in for stiffness: CD (also sold as Stabilo), ECO and LX are the common series, and suppliers match them to waxes differently. Cored wicks (paper, cotton or zinc at the center) burn hotter or stand straighter, square braids are traditional for beeswax, and wood wicks are a separate family. This page explains each construction, the named series with their behavior as each supplier describes it, which wax each is recommended for, and the one federal rule that applies to wicks: metal cores must be essentially lead free.
How a wick is built
A wick works like a fuel line. Melted wax climbs the braid by capillary action, vaporizes near the flame and burns. How the fibers are braided, and whether there is a core, decides how much fuel it draws, how straight it stands and how it curls as it burns. Three constructions cover almost everything sold for candles.
Flat braid. Cotton braided flat, like a ribbon. Flat braids tend to curl as they burn; CandleScience reports that the pronounced curl of its CD series "helps to inhibit carbon buildup" [7]. Many flat braids are woven with thin paper threads for rigidity. CandleScience describes its CD (Stabilo) series as "a flat braided cotton wick with paper threads woven into the cotton," and its ECO series as flat cotton braided with thin paper threads, rigid "without the need for a core" [1].
Square braid. A rounder, denser braid. NI Candle Supplies recommends square braided cotton wicks for beeswax, saying they handle the wax's density [2]. Candlewic describes square braids as originally designed for beeswax and usable in other waxes [3].
Cored. A braid around a central core that keeps the wick upright. CPSC's 2003 lead wick rule lists cores "made of cotton, paper, hemp, metal, or polypropylene," says the metal core provides "structural rigidity," keeping the wick straight during production and upright during burning, and estimated that cored wicks were about 40 percent of wicks used in candles at the time [4].
Pretabbed wicks add two things: a wax coating that stiffens the wick for pouring and a metal tab crimped to the base. CandleScience coats its pretabbed wicks with a blend of vegetable wax and beeswax, and notes that while its wicks are metal free, the tab "is made of steel" [1].
The named series, as their sellers describe them
Each description below is the named seller's description of its own product. Where two sellers describe the same series differently, both are shown.
| Series | Construction | Recommended for (seller's statement) | Behavior reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD (Stabilo) | Flat braided cotton with paper threads [1] | CandleScience lists CD as a recommended series for its SimplySoy soy wax [5]. Supplies for Candles lists Stabilo for container candles in soy, paraffin and blends, and in its FAQ for paraffin [6] | In coconut apricot wax: performed well; pronounced curl that "helps to inhibit carbon buildup"; smaller mushroom heads than LX, so it generally needs a taller flame for a full melt pool, which can mean more flicker and smoke [7] |
| LX | Flat braided cotton, rigid; Supplies for Candles calls it coreless [1][6] | CandleScience: "our recommended wick for paraffin waxes"; also listed for SimplySoy [1][5] | A "tighter controlled flame" that CandleScience says helps keep glass from overheating on one side and pillars from tunneling or leaking [8]. In coconut apricot: forms a mushroom head that widens the flame base, stands straight with minimal curl, a good choice for multi-wick candles [7] |
| ECO | Flat cotton braided with thin paper threads, coreless [1] | CandleScience: "an excellent choice for soy candles," and for blends and low melt point paraffins [9]; its wick category page also calls ECO generally recommended for beeswax [1]. Supplies for Candles: soy and vegetable blends, and paraffin and soy blends [6] | In coconut apricot: too few sizes for an ideal burn across container shapes; performance declines at high fragrance loads, so CandleScience recommends ECO at 10 percent load or less [7] |
| AL (Aroma-Lite) | 100 percent natural cotton, made in the USA [1] | Not stated on the category page | In coconut apricot: unfurled slightly at the top, forming larger carbon heads; trim diligently or use a taller necked tab (about 10 mm); suited to small and multi-wick candles [7] |
| TCR | Not stated | Supplies for Candles: container candles, soy and vegetable waxes and blends [6] | Not described |
| HTP | Paper core, as described by Candlewic [3] | Candlewic: medium to large containers [3] | Candlewic says it stays rigid in soy and burns hotter [3] |
| RRD | Round, cotton core, directional, as described by Candlewic [3] | Candlewic: one version works well in natural waxes [3] | Not described further |
| Zinc core | Cotton braid around a zinc core | Candlewic: generally cooler burning and "not recommended for pure soy" [3] | The rigid core stands the wick upright [4]. Some retailers ban metal cores (below) |
The table shows the main lesson about wick series: suppliers disagree about which wax a series suits. Supplies for Candles points paraffin makers to Stabilo [6]; CandleScience recommends the same CD (Stabilo) construction for its soy wax [5]. Neither is wrong. Each supplier tested its wicks in the waxes it sells. Use the recommendation of the supplier whose wax you bought, or test.
Wick series by wax, as a starting list
| Your wax | Series a named supplier recommends |
|---|---|
| Soy container wax | CD and LX for SimplySoy (CandleScience) [5]; ECO for soy (CandleScience) [9]; TCR or ECO for soy (Supplies for Candles) [6] |
| Paraffin | LX (CandleScience) [1]; LX or Stabilo (Supplies for Candles) [6] |
| Paraffin and soy blends | ECO (Supplies for Candles) [6]; ECO for blends (CandleScience) [9] |
| Coconut apricot | LX and CD performed well; AL for small and multi-wick; ECO at 10 percent load or less (CandleScience) [7] |
| Beeswax | ECO (CandleScience) [1]; square braid (NI Candle Supplies) [2] |
What a series name does and does not tell you
A series name tells you the construction and how the wick tends to burn. The number after it (CD 18, LX 14, ECO 8) is the size within that series, and sizes are not comparable across series: a CD 18 and an LX 18 are different wicks. CandleScience's own walkthroughs show the pairing in practice: a CD 18 in a straight-sided tumbler of SimplySoy [10], and an LX 14 in a 12 oz jar of IGI 4630 paraffin [11]. Finding the size for your jar is the job of how to size a wick.
Wick behavior you will meet in testing:
- Curl. Flat braids curl as they burn, which helps them self-trim. CD has a pronounced curl; LX and AL stand straighter [7].
- Mushrooming. A carbon ball at the tip. CandleScience reports LX forms a mushroom head that widens the flame base, and AL forms larger carbon heads [7]. Causes and fixes are on wick mushrooming and carbon heads.
- Sensitivity to fragrance and dye. CandleScience's sizing recommendations assume a 7.5 percent fragrance load and no dye, and it notes that dyed or heavily fragranced candles may need a larger wick [1]. ECO in particular weakened at high loads in its coconut apricot tests [7].
Wood wicks, in short
Wood wicks are flat strips of wood set in a metal clip, sold for the "gentle crackling sound" they make as they burn [12]. They are sized by width and thickness rather than by a series number, and they are sensitive to the wax and fragrance load: Supplies for Candles says a wood wick that goes out usually means the wax blend does not suit it, often because the fragrance load is too high [12]. Supplies for Candles, for example, sizes its wood wicks from 9 mm wide for 50 to 63 mm containers to 19 mm wide for 88 to 101 mm containers, all 1 mm thick, and calls its chart "a rough guide" [12]. Sizing, trimming and why they go out are on wood wicks.
Lead, zinc and the one federal wick rule
Since October 15, 2003, federal law has banned metal-cored candle wicks containing more than 0.06 percent lead by weight in the metal core, and candles made with them (16 CFR 1500.17(a)(13)) [13]. When the rule was written, CPSC found that "practically all metal-cored wicks currently produced in the U.S. are made of zinc," that zinc-cored wicks were about 15 to 20 percent of U.S. production, and that they contained trace lead of about 0.01 percent [4]. Zinc-cored wicks that meet the 0.06 percent limit remain legal to use; ask your supplier for the General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) that covers them.
Using one does bring two obligations. Shipments must carry the statement "Conforms to 16 CFR 1500.17(a)(13)" on the outer shipping carton or wrapper, never on the candle's retail label (a retail display container is exempt unless it is also the only shipping container), and CPSC requires a GCC for metal-cored wicks and the candles that use them, while there is "no certification requirement" for nonmetal-cored wicks [13]. Some buyers go further: Kohl's protocol 100-Z states "No metal core allowed in wick" [14]. The rule, the carton statement and the display container exception are explained on lead in wicks, and the certificate on certificates of conformity. Choosing an all-cotton or paper-cored wick avoids both.
From a series to a size
Once you have two or three series that suit your wax, the next step is a size. Go to how to size a wick for reading a supplier chart and testing a candidate with one size either side. If your vessel is wide, read when a candle needs two or three wicks too.
References
- CandleScience, Candle Wick (wick category page with series descriptions), read October 22, 2026. https://www.candlescience.com/candle-wick
- NI Candle Supplies, The Only Candle Wick Guide You'll Ever Need, June 24, 2025, updated September 17, 2026. https://www.nicandlesupplies.com/blogs/how-to-guides/the-only-candle-wick-guide-youll-ever-need
- Candlewic, Best Wicks for Soy Candles: Beginner's Guide, December 17, 2025. https://candlewic.com/candle-wicks/best-wicks-for-soy-candles-beginners-guide/
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Metal-Cored Candlewicks Containing Lead and Candles With Such Wicks; Final Rule, 68 FR 19142, April 18, 2003. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2003-04-18/pdf/03-9255.pdf
- CandleScience, CandleScience SimplySoy Artisan Wax (product page), read October 22, 2026. https://www.candlescience.com/wax/candlescience-simplysoy-artisan-wax
- Supplies for Candles, Candle Wicks (category page with series descriptions and FAQ), read October 22, 2026. https://suppliesforcandles.co.uk/product-category/candle-wicks
- CandleScience, Lab Notes: CandleScience Coconut Apricot Wax, undated (images dated April 2024), read October 22, 2026. https://candlescience.com/lab-notes-candlescience-coconut-apricot-wax
- CandleScience, LX wick series (product page), read October 22, 2026. https://www.candlescience.com/wick/lx-6
- CandleScience, ECO wick series (series page), read October 22, 2026. https://www.candlescience.com/candle-wick/pretabbed-wick/eco-series/
- CandleScience, How to Make a Soy Candle, updated October 27, 2025. https://www.candlescience.com/learning/how-to-make-a-soy-candle
- CandleScience, Simple Paraffin Containers (video tutorial), updated January 2021, read October 22, 2026. https://www.candlescience.com/learning/simple-paraffin-containers/
- Supplies for Candles, Wooden Wick (category page with size chart), undated, read October 22, 2026. https://www.suppliesforcandles.co.uk/product-category/candle-wicks/wooden-wick/
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Candles Business Guidance, undated, read October 22, 2026. https://www.cpsc.gov/Business--Manufacturing/Business-Education/Business-Guidance/Candles
- Kohl's, Test Protocol 100-Z: Candle (including freestanding, taper, tealight, votive, filled and novelty candles), revised February 2025, read October 22, 2026. https://link.kohls.com/content/dam/klink/100-Z-CANDLE.pdf
