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Wick Too Short? Here's How to Fix It Without Losing Your Cool (or Your Candle)

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: 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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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.

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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.

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