Braided Cotton Wick for Pillar Candles

From the Servus workshop: what it is and how we use it

The Schreiber braided cotton wick is a flat wick made of three braided strands (18 threads in 3x6, up to 36 in 3x12), with BF-40 treatment, borax-free, per the Schreiber technical data sheet. It is made by Schreiber GmbH, SKS series, and designed for pillar candles (straight, taper and poured) containing stearin, up to 100%. Servus chose it from this range because a single wick covers the whole stearin span of our own production.

Sînziana says: “You don't choose a wick by its code. You choose it by the diameter, the wax and what you put in it: fragrance, dye. We've been burning this one in the workshop for years on our stearin candles: for weddings, where we work with stearin and paraffin, and on our crystallised palm wax pillars. At the right diameter it gives us a steady flame and an even melt pool. But there's no wick that suits every candle: what we haven't tested, we tell you needs testing.”

Behaviour in production: what we have seen in the workshop

The manufacturer is known; the filter can't be bought. Schreiber GmbH sells the SKS series to anyone: the source is no secret. What can't be bought is the reason it has stayed in our range: we burned it in the workshop on our own stearin recipes, and its burn behaviour held at the right diameter. That is what we test before we keep it in stock; a series that doesn't pass doesn't come in.

The flame follows the match, not the wick alone. In Servus tests on recipes with a high stearin content, at the right diameter the wick gave an even melt pool and a steady flame. Put on too large a diameter, the melt pool falls behind and the wax doesn't reach the edges. The consequence: start from the table, but confirm on your own recipe.

The type of wax changes the size you need. As a starting point, plant waxes (soy, coconut) need a stronger wick than paraffin with stearin at the same diameter: the oils and the dye make burning harder. If you move to a recipe with a high plant content, test one size up.

A new batch, even when it is made to order. Batches are made to order and identified by the Schreiber SKS series, but the burn behaviour depends on your recipe. With each new batch, burn a test piece and don't change several variables at once. Note the batch, diameter, wax, fragrance and dye, then compare with a small test.

Tested compatibility and sizing recommendations

The recommendations below were tested in the Servus workshop. The diameters are a guide: final behaviour depends on the recipe, fragrance, dye and wax.

Compatible with stearin-based recipes and paraffin with stearin, and with crystallised palm wax pillars. For 100% soy or coconut wax, the stearin wick can be undersized: test one size up. Fragrance and dye make the wick's job harder; a burn test on the final recipe is still required.

If you work in volume and need continuity of stock and case prices, we'd like to see you in Servus Club.

A complete system tested in the workshop: this wick + Servus waxes for moulds (pillar). The right match from the start cuts down the tests you have to do.

Stated limits: what this product does NOT do

It is NOT a container wick. It has no metal tab and doesn't stay centred in a glass or jar. For container candles, use the Servus waxed wick with tab.

It is NOT a wick for every candle. The same size burns differently in different recipes: the diameter, the wax, the fragrance and the dye change the result.

It is NOT optimised for pure plant wax without adjustment. It is a stearin wick; on pure soy or coconut, test one size up before production.

We've explained how to read a wick test and where sizing goes wrong here: how to choose the right wick.

Even when the specs are clear, the final result depends on the diameter, wax, fragrance, dye and burning conditions in your workshop. Before large-scale production, run a small test on your final recipe.

Technical properties

Sizing per recipe isn't specified in the TDS: it is set by testing in the workshop.

Step by step: how to choose the right size

1. Start from the diameter. Use the table as a starting point.

2. Adjust for the wax. Stearin, and paraffin with stearin: stay on the size in the table. A plant wax: test one size up.

3. Take fragrance and dye into account. They make the wick's job harder: at a high load, test.

4. The Servus quick test. Pour the final recipe into a small container (2–3 cm thick), put in 3–4 different sizes, let it harden completely, then light them all at once. After 20–30 minutes, read the melt pool: too small = the wick is too weak; an unsteady flame = the wick is too strong; an even pool = the right size.

5. Resize and repeat if needed, changing one variable at a time.

Supplied as: a standard 5 m reel. For the workshop, you order multiples of 5 m and receive a single continuous length, with no knots.

Servus Collection

Since 2010, from craft to real distribution.

We sell selected materials, tested and explained from real workshop experience. From Maramureș, for workshops in Romania and abroad.

Servus. See you at the pouring table.