Why Is My Candle Smoking? Soot and Mushrooming Wicks

The wick is too long

This is the usual cause. A long wick makes a big flame that pulls up more wax than it can burn, and the extra goes up as smoke and leaves soot on the jar. Put the candle out, let it cool, trim the wick to ¼ inch with a wick trimmer or scissors, and relight it.

A mushroom on the wick

After a few hours of burning, carbon can build up on the tip of the wick into a black blob that looks like a little mushroom. It makes the flame bigger and smokier and can drop bits into the wax. Trim it off before the next burn, and keep burns to four hours or less.

There's a draft

Moving air from a window, fan, vent or a busy doorway makes the flame flicker and burn unevenly, and a flickering flame smokes. Move the candle somewhere still.

Something is in the wax

Match ends and wick trimmings left in the wax can catch and act like extra wicks. Fish them out once the candle has cooled.

Smoke when you put it out

Blowing a candle out usually sends up a puff of smoke and can splash wax. A snuffer avoids both. So does a wick dipper: push the lit wick into the melted wax, then straighten it back up.

Black marks on the jar

Soot on the glass almost always comes from a long wick. Once the candle is cool, wipe the inside of the rim with a dry paper towel.

When to stop

If the flame gets too high, smokes or keeps flickering, put it out, let it cool, trim the wick and relight it. Stop using a candle when ½ inch of wax is left. Our candle care guide has the rest.