you need to know

Ok, my candle-loving friends, here's the scenario:

You arrive home after a rousing shopping expedition, your latest candle purchase in hand. You pull out said purchase, place it on the kitchen counter, find your lighter or matches and go to light it. BUT WAIT! You've forgotten a very important step.

Cutting the wick.

This may seem trivial to the unseasoned candle-owner, but this could determine your whole experience with said candle! Wicks should be 1/4 of an inch above the wax, and if they are longer, you will find yourself with smoking wicks and excess soot, which nobody wants (especially when you want to keep the empty candle jar for your collection). Plus, bonus! Trimming your wick will definitely provide you with a cleaner, longer burn, my friends.

You can purchase wick trimmers from a number of locations. Amazon.com has a few, and there are also a few specialized web sites, my favorite definitely being wicktrimmer.com (their wick trimmer has a lifetime warranty, which you would obviously need if you are a serious candle-burner and the trimmer ALWAYS trims the wick to 1/4 of an inch).

So please, make sure to cut your wick. Otherwise, people will laugh at you and think less of you and not take your love for candles seriously.