# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Making Stuff >  Candle wick replacement

## doren

I was wondering what you could use besides store bought candle wicks. I'm thinking you should be able to use any natural fiber such as Jute or even Hemp. But I wanted to pick your minds before spending the time and materials on something that will fail. 

I'm new to candle making and I'm trying to lessen the learning curve.

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## Runs With Beer

I use a wick made of a sliver of shelf fungus in oil lamps like this, It would probably work with wax also.

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## Runs With Beer

Cant get the pics to come up?

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## Badawg

I use Jute twine as a wick. Cotton string works well too. Real candle wicks are much stiffer and some have silver in them for some reason I don't understand...

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## gryffynklm

I haven't tried this to make these at home however, I have used candles that use wood as the wick. It works the wood only burns as it is exposed as the wax level lowers. The wick is about 1/2" wide by 1/16" thick and looks like pine. Some oaks might work as well because of the straw like grain pattern. The wood crackles and sputters as it burns. 

Ya, I know it is country craft special, but if you mix up some wax and bacon fat for fragrance, pour it into an old tuna can and you have a down right respectable survival candle.  :Blink:  

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## gryffynklm

I just remembered making a camp stove candle burner thing in Boy Scouts. It was made using corrugated cardboard as a wick, the flutes ran vertically. Perhaps some cardboard might work in experiment.  

The candle burner can was made from a 2" by ??" scrap of corrugated with the flutes running in the 2" direction. The card board was wound on itself and crammed into a tall tuna can. The can was then filled with paraffin wax. 

It burned pretty good because the entire can top was wick and wax. It had a long burn time and used it on several camping trips to boil water and cook.

Here is a link on how to make one.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4792178_emer...ng-candle.html

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## RobertRogers

But how do you get pink candles like the ones you show?

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## snakeman

I haave used the soft leaves of great mullein and they work very good. If you use them green, you will have to take a minute to light it because it is full of moisture, but after that it burns good. Punky wood/ bark has worked with mild success. For veg. oil candles I usually just use a twisted paper towel.

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## doren

Thanks guys, I was having searching the net for wick alternatives. So I can use almost anything burnable, just make sure it has long fibers?

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## Ole WV Coot

I had forgotten about the cardboard in tuna can. I do believe they are the handiest I have ever used. Thanks for the reminder I must be getting old.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

i have a couple short videos on lamp and wilderness wick making, jute is perfect, but click onto the link in my signature to learn more about candle and stove wick

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## bulrush

I never had luck with any cotton or twine, so I buy candle wick in bulk. The string burns low and always gets smothered by melted wax, and it blows out by the smallest gust of wind.

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## crashdive123

The trick that has worked for me when using cotton string for a wick is to make sure I soak it in the medium that I'm using for candle/lamp.  That seems to work - you may want to give it a try.

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## grundle

I take a wooden match and cut a small hole into the hardened wax.  Drop it down to where 10% is sticking up and light it  :Smile:    NO worries about wick location and proper immersion, just drop another in as you need it.  You can also relocate your wick if the candle burns unevenly.

If molten wax drowns your wick you can drop another one in.

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## edr730

The easiest thing I've found for a substitute is one of the strings on a cotton mop. Make sure it's all cotton. It's better than many other substitutes and works ok as a light and heater with any jar with a hole poked in the lid. Nothing beats a real oil latern and real wick. Wicks can be trimmed in a round shape to reduce smoke and the chimney and adjustment increases the height of the flame. Any materials with synthetic in them don't work.

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## Rick

What about fiberglass wicking? Anyone use it? I happen to have a roll of it. 

http://www.wickstore.com/Departments...lass-Wick.aspx

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

> I was wondering what you could use besides store bought candle wicks. I'm thinking you should be able to use any natural fiber such as Jute or even Hemp. But I wanted to pick your minds before spending the time and materials on something that will fail. 
> 
> I'm new to candle making and I'm trying to lessen the learning curve.


well i burn oil candles lard and pine sap, the best wilderness wick is from thr red belt bracket fungus, second i would use Jute twine  jute will stand up to any hydrocarbon fuel including wax. thats the two best wicks for wilderness application

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## bulrush

> I take a wooden match and cut a small hole into the hardened wax.  Drop it down to where 10% is sticking up and light it    NO worries about wick location and proper immersion, just drop another in as you need it.  You can also relocate your wick if the candle burns unevenly.
> 
> If molten wax drowns your wick you can drop another one in.


There may be different types of cotton string, explaining why it doesn't work for me but works for other people, but if I did it this way, I'd be doing it every 3-4 minutes. Good idea though, even though it doesn't work for me.

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## grundle

> There may be different types of cotton string, explaining why it doesn't work for me but works for other people, but if I did it this way, I'd be doing it every 3-4 minutes. Good idea though, even though it doesn't work for me.


That is wierd.  Do you have a fast burning wax?  I can have a matchstick burn for several sessions of a few hours.  It just depends on how quickly my wax/oil medium burns.  The flame will concentrate on the wax and burn at the wickpoint, while not consuming the burnt wood in its entirety.

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