Everything that has to be on the label

Three lists: one that is law, one that is a standard everyone follows, and one that is good practice.

Work down this before a print run

Candle labels are cheap to get right and expensive to redo, and the mandatory part is one sentence that makers often have never heard of.

Mandatory

1 · Identity. What it is.

2 · Net quantity of contents. A net weight of wax, established by weighing rather than read off the vessel's specification.

3 · Name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor.

4 · "Conforms to 16 CFR 1500.17(a)(13)" on the outer container or wrapper, if and only if the candle uses a metal-cored wick. Ask your wick supplier whether yours has a metal core; most cotton and paper-cored wicks do not, and then this does not apply.

Voluntary and expected

The ASTM F2058 fire safety labeling:

A safety alert symbol.

The word WARNING in bold uppercase.

Three fire safety statements. "Burn within sight" must be text; the other two, keep away from things that catch fire, and keep away from children and pets, may be pictograms.

Not law. Expected by retailers, asked about by insurers, and the ordinary standard of care.

Useful, and not required

A batch code on the base, which is what makes a problem traceable.

Burn instructions: first burn to a full melt pool, trim the wick to 6 mm, stop at about 10 mm of remaining wax. All three make the candle perform better and reduce complaints.

Wax type and fragrance notes, which are what customers actually read.

Where each goes

Identity and net quantity on the principal display panel.

Safety statements on the base, which is the category convention.

Everything below the fill line, so no label material sits against the melt pool.

References