Wood Wicks - All Natural?

Anyone who makes or uses candles has probably seen the latest trend in wicking - wood wicks. They are attractive, give off a slightly wood smoke smell and add a distinctive crackle to your candles. But the question is...Are they all natural?

A first reaction to the question is, "Of course they are all natural! They're wood!" Let's take a closer look at wood wicks and see if that first reaction is correct.

Users and manufacturers will tell you that untreated wood wicks have some issues. They won't stay lit and have troubles burning evenly. Not the best situation for a candle. So, the manufacturers of wood wicks have created "treated" wood wicks. The candle making community has embraced these treated wicks since they are that lovely all natural wood AND they stay lit.

But my question is, "With what are they treated?"

I began a quest to discover with what exactly these wood wicks are treated and does the treatment negate the all naturalness of the wick. The natural status, of course, would depend upon the chemical make-up of the wood treatment. Unfortunately, most of the manufacturers and sellers do not disclose what ingredient(s) make up the treatment compound. Unity Candle, a manufacturer of wood wicks, states on their website "Treated with a clean, patented burning agent...". Other manufacturers and sellers were equally as vague.

Thus, my problem with wood wicks. No one wants to disclose what this burning agent is and if it is, as I suspect since it it patented, a manufactured, i.e. not natural, substance then I don't want that in my candles. Plus, how does that effect candlemakers claims that their candles are "all natural"?

Until more information is forthcoming on the what the actual treatment of these cables contains, I think I will stick to my all cotton wicks!