The bulk production of container candles is relatively simple, generally, there are the following steps:
Step 1: insert wicks
It’s mostly semi-automatic, the glue is applied automatically by the machine, then manually put the wick on, which needs to be placed in the middle of the container.
Wicks are purchased from professional manufacturers, must be made with 100% cotton, and need special treatment, they will not smoke when burning.
The size of the wick is the key factor of the burning performance, the bigger the jar, the big size the wick. Of course, the wax base also plays an important role.
Step 2: melt wax
According to the formula, add different wax bases into the professional wax melt tank, and mix them fully. Temperature control is the key in this process, it should be around 100 ℃ and not be too high, otherwise the wax will start to smoke and release unpleasant and dangerous smoke.
Step 3: batching
The melted wax will be drawn into batching tank from the melter, In this process, the wax will be filtered to remove any impurities. Then add the fragrance, colorants, and other additives you want.
This stage determines the quality of a candle. The amount of fragrance must be tested and generally not more than 8%, excess fragrance will not be absorbed by wax, and will inhibit the burning. The colorants should be added slowly and fully mixed with the melted wax to ensure uniform color.
Step 4: filling
Once the mixture wax is smooth and evenly, it will be pumped into a container, which usually fixes on the conveyor belt. It controls the amount of wax allocated to each container to ensure consistent filling.
The automatic filling line has the following steps: pushing, baking and filling, the transmission speed is adjustable. Considering that the filled candles need time to cool, the filling speed is not the faster, the better.
Step 5: trim wicks
When the candle is cooling and solidifying, the wick will be trimmed to a suitable height(generally lower than the cup) to ensure the candle burns evenly.
Step 6: topped off
When the candle is cooled (100g candle needs 2 hours to cool), there will be a collapse in the middle, so it is necessary to fill the surface, that is, the so-called topped off, it’s processed by hand.
The amount of refill makes the surface level, and the temperature of refill wax needs to be about 10 ℃ higher than that of the cooled candle.
Step 7: packing
Most container candles use glass jars, which should be paid attention to in the packaging.
If the candle is a part of the kit, it usually needs an inside tray to fix it, the tray could be paper tray, plastic tray, and foam tray are the safest.
If it is shipped in bulk, it needs to use egg packing to separate and protect each candle. Finally, products containing glass should be shipped in a pallet as far as possible.
Here is the process flow chart of container candle manufacturing:
