We always use lead-free, cotton wicks with varying cores consisting of zinc, fiber and paper. We strongly recommend keeping the wick trimmed to ¼ inch at all times. This helps eliminate unwanted soot gathering at the top of the wick and will ensure you get the most burning time out of your candle. We trim our wicks every time we light our candles. You can learn more about wick maintenance and candle safety here. We understand that there is a lot of information about wicks out there. Our candles go through very rigorous testing to ensure the proper wick choice to meet our performance and safety standards.