Jason Fitzpatrick
Love candles but hate the smoky mess when you blow them out? You need a wick dipper! This absurdly simple device works so well, you’ll be, well, blown away.
Speaking of blown (yes, we’re going to double down on the candle puns), the smokiest way to extinguish a candle is to blow it out. Immediately afterward, a significant amount of smoke fills the air. That acrid burnt-wick smell also permeates your home in the process.
Sure, you can put the lid on a candle that comes in a jar, but that just traps the smoke (and makes the jar all sooty). There’s a much more elegant way to go about it: a wick dipper.
It’s just a bent piece of metal that, temporarily, pushes the wick down into the molten wax, as shown in the video below.
When the wick is submerged the fire is extinguished without any smoking or smoldering. Simply keep it submerged for a moment. In the video above, they’re a bit speedy about it—you might want to slow it down a bit, and then raise it back up. Not only will this stop the wick from smoking, but it also fully saturates and coats the wick for easier lighting next time.
Additionally, if the wick has drifted slightly off-center in the candle, you can gently nudge it back while the wax is hot. If you find yourself thinking about all the times you could have used a wick dipper but blew out your candles instead, we understand. That was our reaction, too!
Fortunately, all that stands between you and more refined candle-extinguishing with a wick dipper is two-day delivery.
