Candle Wick Size Chart: How to Choose the Right Wick for Soy Candles

How to pick a wick for a soy candle: the differences between ECO, CD, HTP, LX, and wood wicks, a size chart by container diameter, what else changes the answer, and a simple burn test that tells you whether your wick is too small or too big.

Updated: September 3, 20265 min read

The wick is the most underrated part of a candle. The same wax and the same fragrance with a wick one size too small gives a tunnel and weak scent; one size too big gives soot, a mushrooming tip, and glass too hot to touch. No chart can size a wick with certainty, but a chart lets you start your testing in the right place.

Wick types for soy candles

Series	Construction	How it burns in soy	Notes
ECO	braided cotton with paper filaments, coreless	stable flame, little soot, slight curl	the most common choice for soy
CD (Stabilo)	braided cotton with a paper weave	strong flame, wide pool, handles fragrance well	good at 9-10% fragrance and with dye
HTP	cotton with paper filaments, stiff	strong, good in denser waxes	popular with US soy makers
CDN	CD variant for natural waxes	very close to CD, slightly hotter	good in coconut-soy blends
LX	flat braided cotton	better in paraffin, often too weak in soy	paraffin-soy blends
Wood	thin wooden strip, often doubled	crackles, flat wide flame	hard to size, needs the right wax

Wick size chart by container diameter

For plain container soy wax without fragrance. With 8-10% fragrance or dye, consider one size up.
Container diameter	ECO	CD	HTP	Notes
1.75-2.25 in (45-55 mm)	ECO 4-6	CD 6-8	HTP 41-52	tea lights, 2-3 oz tins
2.25-2.5 in (55-65 mm)	ECO 8-10	CD 10-12	HTP 62-73	4-6 oz jars
2.5-3 in (65-75 mm)	ECO 10-12	CD 12-14	HTP 83-93	8-9 oz jars
3-3.25 in (75-85 mm)	ECO 12-14	CD 16-18	HTP 104-1212	12-14 oz jars
3.25-4 in (85-100 mm)	ECO 14-16	CD 20-22	HTP 1312	often better with 2 wicks
4-5 in (100-130 mm)	2 × ECO 8-10	2 × CD 10-12	2 × HTP 73-83	wicks about 1/3 of the diameter from center

What changes the answer besides diameter

Fragrance oil. More oil means a bigger wick. Heavy oils (vanilla, woods, gourmand) load the wick more than light citrus.
Dye. Any dye clogs the wick a little. Heavily colored candles need a size up.
Wax type. Soy-coconut blends melt more easily and need a smaller wick than pure soy. Pillar soy wax is harder and needs a bigger one.
Container height. In tall, narrow containers the flame near the bottom gets less oxygen. Sometimes you go down a size to stop sooting, or pick a shorter container.
Container shape. A container that narrows at the top needs a wick sized for its widest point.

The burn test: checking whether the wick fits

Make 2-3 candles with the same wax and fragrance, differing only in wick size. After 14 days of cure, light them side by side and watch for 3-4 hours, noting every hour what is happening.

What you see	Diagnosis
After 3-4 h the pool has not reached the walls, a ring of wax remains	wick too small: go up a size
Full pool after 2-3 h, about 1/2 in deep, flame 1-1.25 in, steady	wick is right
Full pool after 1 h, deeper than 3/4 in, tall dancing flame	wick too big: go down a size
Mushroom (carbon ball) on the tip, black smoke	wick too big or too much fragrance
Tiny flame, candle goes out, wax floods the wick	wick too small, or the wick sank (glue, poor mounting)
Glass too hot to touch below the melt pool	wick too big for this container

Wood wicks in soy candles

A wood wick gives a lovely crackling-fireplace effect but is harder to work with. In pure soy wax it often goes out, because the wax does not reach the narrow strip fast enough. It works best in soy-coconut blends, with the wick width matched to the container (usually 1/2 to 5/8 inch for a 3 inch jar) and trimmed to 1/8 to 3/16 inch before every burn. If you are just starting, master cotton wicks first.

Two and three wicks

A container wider than 3.5-4 inches rarely works well with one wick: either the pool never reaches the edge or the flame is so big it overheats the glass. Place two wicks symmetrically, each halfway between the center and the wall. For three wicks use a triangle. Size each wick as if for a container half the real diameter.

Mounting the wick

Stick the tab to the exact center of the base with a wick sticker or a dab of hot glue. Ordinary glue and double-sided tape let go in the heat.
Straighten the wick and hold it lightly taut in the centering tool so it stands perfectly vertical.
After pouring, check it has not shifted. An off-center wick means an uneven pool and one overheated wall.
Once set, trim to 1/4 inch. Trim again before every burn.

The other ratios (fragrance, dye, fill level) are in our soy candle wax ratio cheat sheet.

Frequently asked questions

What size wick for an 8 oz soy candle?

A typical 8 oz jar is 2.5-3 inches across. The starting point is ECO 10-12, CD 12-14, or HTP 83-93. With 8-10% fragrance start with the larger of the pair and confirm with a burn test.

Why does the wick in my soy candle keep going out?

Most often it is too small for the container and drowns in the melted wax. Other causes: a wick left too long that bends over, too much fragrance or dye, and a tall narrow container where the flame runs short of oxygen.

Can I use paraffin wicks in soy wax?

Not always. Soy wax is denser and needs stronger wicks: the ECO, CD, and HTP series are designed for vegetable waxes. LX and thin braided wicks often turn out too weak in soy.

Can I choose a wick without a burn test?

The chart gets it right most of the time, but every combination of wax, fragrance, and container behaves a little differently. A burn test with two adjacent sizes takes one afternoon and saves many failed batches.

Want to go deeper?

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