Soy Candle Wick
By Udh Ris

What You Need To Know About Soy Candle Wicks

The humble soybean is becoming one of the most useful crops in the world.  It can feed us, feed our livestock, help make bio-fuel and soybean oil can be used to make candles.  Soy candles are becoming more and more popular, especially with vegans, who can’t use beeswax candles.  If you want to make soy candles for yourself or for candle gifts, you need to know about soy candle wicks.

Different Materials

Soy candle wicks aren’t made out of soybeans – well, not yet, anyway.  They are made out of the same materials used for other kinds of wax or beeswax candles.  This can be a kind of twine or cotton.  You can get these soy candle wicks already attached to the little metal holders that help keep them in place during the candle making process, or you can get them naked.

Some commercially available candles or soy candle wicks have cotton wicks covering a lead core.  This is the usual kind of wick in store-bought candles, except for some specialty types such as Yankee Candle.  The lead helps make the wick burn, especially if the company has skimped on the quality of the wax.  There is some concern that any lead in a soy candle wick or any kind of candle wick can release poisons into the atmosphere. 

Soy candle wicks with a lead core also waste a lot of the wax and burn out faster than all twine or cotton ones will.  If you've ever had a candle that only burned a small tunnel all the way through it and left a lot of the wax untouched, then that candle had a lead-core candle wick. 

Different Diameters

Soy candle wicks come in different thicknesses for different sized candles.  It's important to know how large your candle is going to be before you buy your soy candle wicks.  You need to get your container or candle mold and measure it.  Many candle making supply websites will offer a chart as to how thick your soy candle wick should be for a certain size container.  If your container is weirdly shaped, use the widest diameter of the container for your measurement.

Expect to make a lot of mistakes with your first few batches of soy candles.  This is the only way that you can learn.  You can also check out your local YMCA or community college to see if they offer any candle making classes.