Wick Too Short? Here's How to Fix It Without Losing Your Cool (or Your Candle)
- Robert Evans
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read

Accidentally trimmed your wick too short? Or maybe it took a dive and disappeared under the wax? Don’t worry — your candle’s not doomed. You can fix this with stuff you already have at home. Here's how to bring that wick back to life, Tall Pine style.
Step 1: Wick too short? Lets Warm Things Up
First, you’ll need to melt some of the wax around the wick so you can rescue it. A heat gun works great, but a blow dryer on high heat or even a long lighter will do the trick.
Hold your heat source a few inches above the wick and slowly warm the wax.
If the wick is just bent or hiding, melt until the wax is soft and move on to step 2.
If you trimmed the wick a little too enthusiastically, keep heating until you’ve got a thin pool of melted wax across the top.
Step 2: Wick Recovery Operation
Time to dig that wick out — gently now.
If it’s buried (aka curled or leaning): Grab a Q-tip or tweezers and stand that little guy up while the wax is soft. Hold it steady until it stays upright on its own.
If it’s too short: Carefully pour out some melted wax until you see about ⅛" to ¼" of wick peeking above the surface. A paper towel works too — just dip and dab the wax away.
Let the candle cool before moving on. Patience is a virtue... especially with hot wax.
Step 3: Burn, Baby, Burn
Now give your candle a fresh start by lighting it and letting it burn long enough to melt the entire top layer. This resets the wax "memory" (yep, that’s a thing) and prevents future tunneling.
Pro tip: Burn for about 1 hour per inch of candle diameter. So if your candle is 3 inches wide, give it at least 3 hours of quality burn time.
And that’s it — your candle is back in business. Next time, go easy on the wick trimming. We love a neat candle, but we also like it to light.
Happy burning!
Bob Evans
Head Wick Trimmer
Comments