CD vs CDN Wicks: What's the Difference, and Which One Should You Test?

The short answer: CD and CDN wicks come from the same family, but a CDN is the stabilized version of a CD, so it stands up straighter and tends to burn a little hotter than the same numbered CD. Line up a CD 10 and a CDN 10 side by side and the CDN will usually give you a slightly bigger, more aggressive melt pool. That one difference is the whole reason to care which one you reach for.

This is a question we get a lot, and it sounds tiny until it quietly eats three weeks of your burn testing. My husband Chad and I have poured through a mountain of both wicks while dialing in candles at Garsnett Beacon, so let me break down what actually changes, when we grab each one, and how to switch between them without starting your whole test over.

What CD and CDN wicks actually are

Both CD and CDN are flat, braided, coreless cotton wicks with thin paper threads woven in, and they come from the same European manufacturer. They are built to curl slightly in the flame, and that curl is a feature, not a flaw. As the tip bends into the hottest part of the flame it burns itself off, which helps cut down on carbon buildup, mushrooming, and soot. That self trimming behavior is a big reason so many soy and coconut makers live in this wick family to begin with.

The difference between the two is in the build. The "N" in CDN comes from an added stabilizing thread that makes the wick more rigid. That small change does three things: it keeps the wick standing straighter through the burn, it curls a bit less than a standard CD, and it pushes a little more heat, which usually means a slightly larger melt pool at the same number.

The practical differences you will actually notice

• Burn temperature and melt pool. A CDN generally runs a touch hotter than the same numbered CD, so it opens up a wider, deeper melt pool and gets there faster.
• Rigidity. CDN stands straighter in the wax and in the flame, which some makers prefer for taller or wider vessels where a floppy wick can lean.
• Curl and self trimming. CD curls more, which can be great for keeping the tip clean. CDN curls less, so you lean a little more on good wick trimming habits.
• Best fit. CD is the versatile all rounder across a lot of waxes. CDN tends to shine in dense natural waxes like coconut and coco soy, and in candles with a high fragrance load, where a same sized CD can get lazy and leave a weak hot throw.

Here is the practical takeaway that saves the most time: because a CDN burns hotter, treat it like it is roughly a size up from the matching CD. If a CD 12 is close but just a hair weak, do not automatically jump to a CD 14. Try a CDN 12 first. It often lands right in that middle gap between two CD sizes, and that gap is exactly where a lot of candles get stuck.

How we choose between them at Garsnett Beacon

When we start a brand new vessel and wax combination, we usually begin with the CD series as our baseline. It is forgiving, it behaves well across most of the waxes we use, and it gives us a clean read on where we are. We work up and down CD sizes until we find a melt pool that reaches the edge of the vessel within a reasonable burn without the flame getting tall and angry.

We reach for CDN when the CD is almost there but the candle is underperforming in a specific way. The classic case is a coconut heavy wax with a high fragrance load where the biggest CD we are comfortable with still leaves a ring of unmelted wax or a soft hot throw. Bumping to a CDN at the same number often wakes the candle up without forcing us to jump a full size and overshoot into a smoking, mushrooming mess. On wider vessels, we have also liked that the CDN stays upright instead of leaning toward one wall.

One number that trips people up while they test: your fragrance load is always calculated on the total weight of the finished candle, not on the wax alone. If you are comparing wicks but your fragrance percentage is drifting batch to batch, you are not really testing the wick anymore. If the math makes your eyes cross, our free candle calculators will do the wax and fragrance numbers for you so every test candle is truly apples to apples.

A simple way to test CD against CDN without losing your mind

The only fair way to compare these two is to change one variable at a time. Here is the setup we use:

1. Pour identical candles in the same vessel, the same wax, the same fragrance oil at the same percentage, and the same cure time.
2. Wick one with a CD and one with a CDN at the same number, then do it again one size up and one size down so you have a little range to compare.
3. Label every single one before you light it. Wick type, size, scent, and pour date.
4. Burn test them side by side and write down full melt pool time, flame height, any mushrooming or soot, and how the scent carries across the room, not just right over the candle.

That last habit is everything. Memory lies, and "I think that one was better" is not data. We keep a running burn log so we can actually see which wick won and why. We track our test batches and recipes in Makers Manager, the software I co founded for candle makers, so the winning wick, wax, and fragrance combo is saved and ready the next time we scale that candle up. If you want to try it, the code CBP7DAYS gives you 7 days free at checkout. If you would rather keep it analog, a notebook works too. The point is to write it down, not to trust your gut a week later. We walk through a full testing routine in our field guide to wick burn testing, and if the wick codes themselves still feel like alphabet soup, our breakdown of what candle wick sizes actually mean pairs well with this post.

Frequently asked questions

Can I swap a CD for a CDN in the same size? You can, but do not assume it will behave the same. Because the CDN runs hotter, swapping it in at the same number can tip a dialed in candle into too hot. Always re test when you switch families, even if the number on the sticker is identical.

Does a CDN soot more than a CD? Not automatically, but since it burns a little hotter and curls a little less, an oversized CDN will show soot and mushrooming faster than an oversized CD. If you are seeing soot, that is usually a sign to wick down, not a reason to blame the wick family. We cover more of these gremlins in our post on common candle making problems and how to fix them.

Which is better for coconut wax? There is no universal answer, because it depends on your vessel size and fragrance load, but a lot of coconut and coco soy makers end up on CDN because those waxes are thick and like a hotter wick. Start with a CD to find your zone, then test a CDN at the same number to see if it carries the scent better.

Do I still need to size up if my melt pool is short? Maybe, maybe not. Before you jump a full CD size, remember that a CDN at the same number is your in between step. And if a smaller wick is somehow burning hotter than a bigger one in your tests, that is a real thing worth understanding, which we explain in why a smaller wick can burn hotter.

The bottom line

CD is your versatile starting point. CDN is the hotter, stiffer, slightly bigger behaving cousin you reach for when a natural wax or a heavy fragrance load needs a little more fire. Neither one is better in a vacuum. The best wick is the one your specific wax, vessel, and scent proved out in a burn test, which is why dialing this in is worth the afternoon it takes.

If you want help as you test, grab our free candle making supplies checklist so you are not missing anything, and come share your results with us in the free Candle Business PRO Facebook group. Somebody in there is almost always testing the exact wax and vessel you are, and that shared burn data is pure gold.