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Close up photo of a candle wick

A candle wick is a wick specifically adapted for use in a candle. A candle wick works by providing a mechanism, known as capillary action, to transport the fuel, typically melted candle wax, to the flame. When the liquid fuel reaches the flame it then vaporizes and burns.

Most candle wicks are impregnated or coated with wax to provide the initial fuel source when the candle is lit. While the wick is consumed in the process of burning a candle the real fuel for the flame is the melted wax. As such all wicks are treated with various flame-retardant solutions in a process known as mordanting. Without mordanting the wick would be destroyed by the flames and the flow of melted wax to the flame would cease.

Candle wicks are normally made out of braided cotton, and may contain a stiff core. This core was traditionally made of lead, however lead wick cores have been banned in the U.S. for several decades by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, due to concerns about lead poisoning. Zinc is often used as a safer replacement for lead in this application. Other core stiffeners, such as paper and synthetic fibers may also be used.

The characteristics of the candle wick has a major effect on how the candle burns. Large diameter wicks typically result in a larger flame, a larger pool of melted wax, and the candle burning faster. Wicks are sometimes braided flat, so that as they burn they also curl back into the flame, thus making them self-consuming. Prior to the introduction of these wicks special scissors called snuffers were used to trim the excess wick without extinguishing the flame. However, the meaning of the word has now shifted to mean "extinguishing a candle's flame," as the process of snuffing a candle (trimming it's wick with the scissors) usually extinguished it anyway.

In tealights the wick is tethered to a piece of metal to stop it from floating to the top of the molten wax and burning before the wax does.