The Metal Tabs on My New Wicks Are a Different Size From the Previous Order — Should I Verify Whether Anything Else Changed Before Production?

What the tab actually does

The metal tab at the base of a pre-tabbed wick has three jobs. It anchors the wick to the jar floor, usually with a sticker or a dab of glue. It holds the braid upright at the bottom of the candle once the surrounding wax has become liquid. And, through the height of its neck, the crimped collar that grips the braid, it helps decide when the flame runs out of fuel near the end of the burn.

That last job is easy to forget. As the pool reaches the top of the neck, the wick below is sealed inside metal and cannot draw more wax, so the flame dies down and goes out. A taller neck leaves more wax behind and keeps the flame further from the glass base. A shorter neck lets the flame burn lower. Change the tab and you may have changed that point, even if the braid is identical.

There is also a practical fit question. A wider tab may not sit flat on a small jar floor, or may overlap the curve where floor meets wall. It may overhang the sticker you normally use, so the edges lift. A tab that does not sit flat can trap a pocket of air and let the wick tilt.

What else might have changed with it

Suppliers change tabs for many ordinary reasons: a new batch of tab stock, a different tabbing machine, a switch in the source of pre-made wicks. Sometimes the tab is the only change. Sometimes it is the most visible part of a larger one. Your job at goods-in is to find out which.

Use a vernier or digital caliper for the metal parts. Take a few pieces from several packets rather than one from the top. If you find only the tab is different and everything else matches your retained wicks, that narrows the question to fit and end-of-burn behaviour. If the braid, coating or length changed too, treat the lot as a different wick altogether and plan a fuller qualification.

Check the fit before the burn

Before committing candles to a long test, do a dry fit. Stick three new-lot wicks into empty jars of each size you use, the same way you would in production, and look closely. Does the tab sit completely flat, with no edge riding up the curve of the floor? Does your sticker cover the whole underside, or does metal overhang it? Press gently on the tip of the braid: does the tab rock or peel?

If the fit fails in a particular jar, you already have your answer for that jar, and you have saved several days of burning. If you fix tabs with glue rather than stickers, the dry fit still matters, because a tab that does not match the floor shape needs more glue, and a thick blob under a tab changes how high the neck sits above the glass.

Dry fits are also where you notice handling problems: tabs that catch on each other in the packet, sharp edges on a new tab design, or crimps that slip when you press the wick down onto the sticker. Note anything you would not want your team to discover halfway through a pour.

Why the test is a burn to the end

Most wick comparisons focus on the first few burns: flame height, melt pool, mushrooming. For a tab change, those burns may look identical, because the braid is doing the work and the tab is buried under wax. The difference, if there is one, appears at the bottom.

Worked example: a four-candle burn to the end

You pour into 200 ml salsa jars with a 63 mm lug cap, which you fill to 180 g, your own measured fill. The formula is CSI 464 with Sandalwood at 8% of total candle weight: 165.6 g of wax and 14.4 g of oil per candle.

Two old-lot and two new-lot candles cost 4 × ₹191.82 = ₹767.28. The burn to the end takes several days of attended sessions, which is the real cost. It is still far less than discovering, after a production run, that a new tab leaves the flame burning down onto the glass in the last session of every candle.

Suppose the result shows the new tabs leaving noticeably less wax on the floor than the old ones, with the flame burning closer to the base. That is a conditional result at best: you might use the lot in a jar with a larger, thicker floor after testing it there, or ask the supplier for the previous tab. If the two pairs finish alike, release the lot and note that the tab change had no measurable effect in your system.

Recording and releasing

Your goods-in record should show the bench comparison, the supplier's answer, the burn-to-end result with photos of the empty jars, and a clear status. Note also which jars the lot is released for; a tab that works in a wide jar may still be held back from your smallest one.

From now on, add tab width and neck height to the checks you run on every new wick lot. It takes a minute with a caliper, and it means the next tab change will be noticed on the bench rather than at the bottom of a customer's candle.

Where this page fits

CSI already has guides that cover parts of this question. This page covers the goods-in check for the question above; these go deeper on the rest:

Three things to buy for this job

Frequently asked questions