I’m Switching to a New Jar with the Same 200 g Capacity but a Different Diameter — Do I Need to Repeat Wick Testing?

What a new diameter changes, and what it doesn't

Two jars that both hold 200 g can ask completely different things of a wick. In a wider jar the wax spreads thinner over more surface; in a narrower one it stacks deeper over less. At the 0.88 midpoint of the common 0.86–0.9 water-to-wax rule of thumb, 200 g stands about 5.91 cm deep in a 7.0 cm jar, 4.52 cm in an 8.0 cm jar and 8.04 cm in a 6.0 cm jar: worked-example geometry, confirmed only by a weighed pour. The physics of why same-capacity jars need their own wick is the same-capacity, different-diameter post; this page owns what to buy because of it.

The grams are the one thing the switch leaves alone, and grams decide your oil and wax quantities, not your wick. That split (diameter picks the wicks, weight sets the wax, oil and burn days) is the 7.5 cm, 200 g post; the two-jars-of-equal-weight comparison, with two separate buy lists, is the 6.5 vs 8 cm post. A wick that follows grams rather than area is the classic mistake when a candle changes jar: see why you can't scale a wick by weight.

The re-use inventory: shelf, records, wicks

A jar change looks like starting over. It isn't. Most of what you paid for the first time, in money and in testing, is still valid, and the job is to separate it cleanly from the one thing that isn't.

Two of those rows decide the order: which wicks are already on your shelf, and in which direction the pool moved. The full scope of what to repeat on a 7 → 8 cm move, time and cost included, is the 7 to 8 cm retest post.

Centre the new ladder on the pool-area change

How far the new ladder moves from the old wick depends on how far the pool moved. The bands below are our judgement, a buying rule readable off two measurements, not a burn prediction; CSI has no measured wick data for any jar.

Why keep the old wick in the ladder at all, instead of jumping straight to the next rung? Because a ladder only closes when the chosen wick has a documented fail on each side (the bracket-closure rule). In a wider jar, C2 is the most likely fail-low, and it is already in your hand. If C2 surprises you and passes in the new jar too, you have learned that without buying anything.

What about the rung beyond? In the wider case, C1 single is skipped: it was the right size for nothing larger than your old jar, and a wider pool only moves it further from the answer. The pairs (2 × C1, 2 × C2, 25.13 cm² per wick at 8.0 cm) are held back unless Cotton Braided, CSI's top tabbed rung, still leaves a ring; their wicks are cheap and possibly on your shelf, but each arm is three more candles. In the narrower case, Cotton Braided is the wrong direction. If C1 is still too strong, CSI's one wick described for a smaller diameter is the untabbed Eco Candle Wicks Loose ("2 inch diameters"); the braided rolls are unsized, and anything between is a question for WhatsApp.

The top-up order vs a full new ladder

With Salsa jars as the new vessel, the cash order is ₹521.20: the Cotton Braided 10-pack and ten jars. The six candles consume ₹1,104.49 of materials (C2 candles ₹182.80, Cotton Braided ₹185.36 each, excluding jars, labour, freight, packaging and GST).

The wick saving is real but small (₹212.40 on the wider move); the bigger saving is three fewer candles, three fewer jars and three fewer full-life burns to watch. The per-candle wick cost hardly moves: a C1 candle is ₹179.26, a Cotton Braided one ₹185.36. As always, the candles are the cost of a test, not the wicks.

Pour the re-use ladder

Two jars, one shelf: production after approval

If you keep selling the old jar, you may now stock two approved wicks. Size each from its own jar's production: wicks = candles × wicks per candle × (1 + allowance), with 5% as our worked-example allowance. In the example, 150 new-jar candles a month on Cotton Braided and 100 old-jar candles on C2:

The oil and wax lines stay single: same oil, same wax, one stock. Only the wick line splits, and only if the new jar approved a different wick. When several jars share CSI's few rungs, your stock is the union of the approved wicks, not one range per jar (the three-jar stock map); whether settling on one diameter would shrink that list is the standardisation post.

Reorder points and safety stock per wick follow the hub's method (the hub's production section); CSI dispatches from Pune and publishes no lead times or stock depth, so confirm dispatch on WhatsApp before a large run.

What to buy, and what to skip

Five items, chosen on page statements, price and stock on 1 October 2026. CSI publishes no wick-performance data, so nothing is ranked on burn results. Oil candle counts use 16 g per 200 g candle and 12 g per 150 g candle.

Skip for this order: a full new three-pack ladder (₹332.40) if your shelf already holds the old wick. Steel Wick Holder (₹250.00 for 5): only if Cotton Braided rings and you open a double-wick arm. The coloured 200 ml Salsa jars (₹310.00 for 5, ₹62.00 each): the same unstated dimensions at more per jar than the clear listing; choose them for colour, not for the test. Performance Wooden Wicks (₹590.00 for 10): changing jar and wick type together tests two things at once.

Frequently asked questions