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Prior to the mid 19th century, the candle was made from tallow (a byproduct of beef-fat rendering). The fuel now is nearly always some form of wax, with paraffin wax being the most common. Candles made from gel, soy, beeswax, and vegetable products are also available.
The history of candle making does not belong to any one country as it was developed independently in many countries. The Egyptians formed candles that were make out of beeswax as early as 3000 BC. The Chinese created candles from whale fat during the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC). In early China and Japan, tapers were made with wax from insects and seeds, wrapped in paper. In India, wax from boiling cinnamon was used for temple candles. During the first century AD, indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest fused oil from the eulachon, or "candlefish", for illumination. Excavations at Pompeii, Italy, revealed several candelabra.
A form of candle-clock was used in coal-mining until the twentieth century.
Most candle wicks are impregnated or coated with wax to provide the initial fuel source when the candle is lit. While the wick is consumed in the process of burning a candle the real fuel for the flame is the melted wax. As such all wicks are treated with various flame-retardant solutions in a process known as mordanting. Without mordanting the wick would be destroyed by the flames and the flow of melted wax to the flame would cease.
Candle wicks are normally made out of braided cotton, and may contain a stiff core. This core was traditionally made of lead, however lead wick cores have been banned in the U.S. for several decades by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, due to concerns about lead poisoning. Zinc is often used as a safer replacement for lead in this application. Other core stiffeners, such as paper and synthetic fibers may also be used.
The characteristics of the candle wick has a major effect on how the candle burns. Large diameter wicks typically result in a larger flame, a larger pool of melted wax, and the candle burning faster. Wicks are sometimes braided flat, so that as they burn they also curl back into the flame, thus making them self-consuming. Prior to the introduction of these wicks special scissors called snuffers were used to trim the excess wick without extinguishing the flame. However, the meaning of the word has now shifted to mean "extinguishing a candle's flame," as the process of snuffing a candle (trimming its wick with the scissors) usually extinguished it anyway.
In tealights the wick is tethered to a piece of metal to stop it from floating to the top of the molten wax and burning before the wax does.
