Filling by hand without the mess
Updated
Filling fifty tubes by hand is fifteen minutes done well and an hour done badly.
The problem is the gap
A twist tube has a narrow opening and a mechanism directly below it. Balm that misses goes onto the rim, down the outside, or worst, past the disc into the threads.
Balm in the threads seizes the mechanism once it sets. The tube is scrap and the fault is invisible until a customer finds it.
A tray changes everything
A filling tray holds a row of tubes at the same height with a pouring channel across the top. You pour along the row and the excess sits in the channel rather than on the tubes.
It is the difference between pouring tubes and dosing them one at a time, and it is not an expensive piece of equipment.
Failing that, a rack that at least holds them upright and stops them being handled individually.
Technique
Pour from a spouted vessel, close to the tube, in one movement rather than a dribble.
Slightly proud, because it will sink, and consistently so, because the net weight depends on it.
Keep the pour temperature steady. A cooling melt fills more thickly and catches on the rim.
Wipe the spout between rows rather than letting a drip run down the outside of the vessel.
Cleaning as you go
Any balm on the outside of a tube sets hard and has to be removed before labeling, because a label will not stick over it.
Wipe while warm with a dry paper. Once cold it takes a fingernail, and fifty tubes of fingernail is the part of the job nobody costs.