Why Our Jars Have Two Wicks (We Tried One. It Didn't Work)
If you've ever burned a big candle for an evening and ended up with a tunnel down the middle and a thick ring of untouched wax stuck to the glass... that wasn't bad luck. That was a wick that couldn't keep up with its jar.
Our Classic Jar Candles have two wicks. Not because it looks nicer (though it does), and not because two flames sound fancier than one. It's because we tried single wicks first, watched them lose the fight, and switched. Here's the whole story, plus what it actually means for you when you light one.
The problem with wide jars
A wick can only melt so much wax around itself. Think of it like a campfire: one small fire warms the people sitting close to it, but the people at the edge of the circle stay cold. A candle works the same way; the flame melts a pool of wax around it, and the scent rises from that pool. No melt pool at the edges = wax that never melts = fragrance you paid for but can never smell.
In a small tin, one wick easily reaches the walls. In a wide jar, that gets harder. There are only two ways to fix it:
| Option | How it works | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| One big wick | A thicker wick makes a bigger flame that melts a wider pool | The flame runs hot, the glass gets hotter, the flame gets tall and flickery, and the wick tends to build up a burnt "mushroom" on top |
| Two smaller wicks | Two gentle flames, spaced apart, each melting its own half of the jar | Slightly more work for us to place and test and you have two wicks to trim instead of one |
What happened when we tested one wick
When we started testing our Classic jars, we did what most candle makers do: started with single wicks, going up in size until something worked. Nothing did, and not the way we wanted. The pattern kept repeating:
| What we wanted | What single wicks gave us |
|---|---|
| Wax melted edge-to-edge within a reasonable burn | A pool that stopped short of the glass, leaving a wall of unmelted wax |
| A calm, steady flame | Either too small to do the job, or big enough but tall and restless |
| A jar that stays comfortable to be near | The bigger the wick, the hotter the glass ran |
| Scent that fills the room | Scent trapped in wax that never got warm enough to release it |
The frustrating part: the fix for one problem always caused another. Go up a wick size to melt more wax, and the flame runs too hot. Go back down, and you're tunnelling again. With a jar this wide, one wick is always either too much or not enough.
Why two wicks solved it
Two smaller wicks, placed apart from each other, split the job in half. Each flame only has to melt its side of the jar — and their pools meet in the middle.
| One large wick | Two smaller wicks (our jars) | |
|---|---|---|
| Melt pool | Struggles to reach the edges | Reaches edge-to-edge, evenly |
| Flame | One tall, hot, hungry flame | Two calm, low flames |
| Glass temperature | Runs hotter | Stays noticeably cooler |
| Scent release | Uneven; initially strong then weak | Steady, fills the room |
| Wasted wax at the end | A ring left on the glass | Almost none |
The honest trade-off: you have two wicks to trim instead of one, and always light both, even for a short burn. That's the entire cost. Everything else gets better.
What this means for you
| Do this | Because |
|---|---|
| Light both wicks, every time | One wick alone will tunnel its own half and throw the whole burn off balance |
| Trim both to about 5mm before lighting | Short wicks = calm flames = no soot, no mushrooming |
| Give the first burn 3+ hours | Wax has memory, the first pool sets the pattern for every burn after |
| Stop when about 1cm of wax remains | The glass gets hot near the bottom, and the wicks can shift |
The short version
One big flame fights the jar. Two small flames share it. We tested our way to that answer rather than assuming it. And it's why a Neev jar burns flat, even, and all the way to the glass, with the full scent filling your room instead of staying stuck in leftover wax.
All five of our classic jar fragrances — Aangan, Gajra, Mango Lassi, Masala Chai, and Pehli Baarish — are double-wicked. [Shop the jars →]