It is helpful to trim the wick to 1/4 inch each time you light your candle afterÂ the first burn. When not properly trimmed, the wicks of all candles canÂ "mushroom" at the top, causing excessive flickering and/or smoke. KeepingÂ your wick trimmed keeps this to a minimum and also makes your candle safer. Trimming also prevents your wick from curling back into the wax - a common problem with non-metal cored wicks. A curled wick can cause your candle to burn unevenly. Because our wicks contain no lead, zinc, or metal of any kind, they are very easily trimmed by just breaking off the top of the wick (the curled part) before lighting. Check out our candle wick trimmers.