Most candle claims are decided before the container leaves the factory. In practice they come back to six defects: uneven burn, off-centre wicks, shrinkage cavities, deformed cups, crushed cartons and moisture damage. All six can be checked in half a day, with three cartons, a stopwatch and a flat table. This candle inspection checklist covers what to look for, how to test it, and what to agree in writing.
What a candle inspection checklist should cover
Four measurable things: how the candle burns, what it looks like after it burns, whether the form survives packing, and whether the carton survives the container. Everything else — scent, shade, label — is preference, and preference belongs in the purchase order, not in a claim.
Check in that order. A buyer who checks appearance first will approve a batch that fails in the end customer’s hands.
The six defects that cause most claims
| Defect | What you see | Usual cause | How to check | Who fixes it |
| Tunnelling (dimming) | Wax burns down the centre, rim stays high, flame drowns | Wick too small for the cup diameter, or wax poured too cold | Burn three pieces to self-extinguish | Factory — wick specification |
| Off-centre wick | Wick leans, flame sits close to one wall, melt uneven | Wick not straightened before the wax sets | Look straight down on 20 pieces | Factory — assembly |
| Shrinkage cavity | Dimple, hole or hairline crack on the top surface | Wax contracts as it cools; poured too hot or cooled too fast | Inspect tops under side light | Factory — pour temperature |
| Cup deformation | Oval or dented cup; the piece rocks on a flat surface | Thin gauge cup, or cartons stacked too high | Rock 10 pieces on a table, measure height | Factory — cup gauge and stacking |
| Carton compression | Corners crushed, cartons bowed, pieces cracked inside | Stack height above the board’s burst strength | Read the board grade; stack three cartons and check corners | Packaging |
| Transit moisture | White candles spotty, wicks damp, wrappers stained | Wet loading day, unlined container, no desiccant | Check the container floor, ask for the loading record | Shipping |
Four of the six are process problems the factory controls, one is packaging, one is shipping. Knowing which is which tells you what to ask for next time.
Rank them before you check. A batch that dims is unsellable. A batch with crushed corners is discountable. Treating both as the same defect wastes a negotiation you could have won.
Two are easy to test and hard to argue about later. Stack a carton and see whether the pieces still sit flat; on an aluminum cup tealight order, a cup that deforms under normal stacking will also leak wax onto the carton. Shrinkage cavities never show from the side. Look straight down at the top surface in side light.
How to sample: positions, not quantities
Take one carton from the top of a pallet, one from the middle, one from the bottom. Open all three. If they differ, the problem is process stability, not the product, and a bigger sample will not fix it.
A buyer who opens twelve cartons from one pallet learns less than one who opens three from three positions. Bottom cartons carry the load, top cartons take the humidity, middle cartons take neither.
If one carton fails, do not reject the lot on that basis. Ask for a second carton from the same position. One failing carton is often one bad corner of the stack; three failing cartons in the same position is the process.
Where formal sampling is required, ISO 2859-1 gives a recognised method for lot acceptance [verify before publishing]. It does not tell you which defect matters. That belongs in the purchase order as a written list with tolerances.
The burn test, done properly
Burn three pieces from the same carton in a still room, on a flat non-flammable surface, and time each to self-extinguish. No fan, no open window, no air-conditioning draught. A test that fails in an office often passes in a controlled room; one that passes there often fails in a hotel corridor.
Write down the failure, not just the time:
- · Did the flame drown before the wax was spent, and where.
- · Did the wick mushroom and need trimming.
- · Did soot appear on the glass or the wall.
- · Did the second burn behave differently from the first.
A candle that hits its stated time and then leaves a black wall is not a good candle. Time is one number; behaviour is the product.
Container loading: five photographs
Ask for these before the container is sealed:
1. Empty container floor, dry.
1. First row of cartons, with count and orientation.
1. A full bay against the load plan.
1. Seal number, doors closed.
1. Signed loading sheet.
They cost ten minutes and settle arguments that would otherwise start four weeks later in a port, with no evidence on either side. On a wet loading day they also prove the floor was dry when the cartons went in — the difference between a clean arrival and a mould claim on a [INTERNAL LINK: FILL REAL URL] white stick candle order.
FAQ
How many cartons should I inspect?
There is no single right number. Use coverage instead: one carton from each pallet position, from the first and last pallet in the row. For a full container order, ISO 2859-1 sampling is a reasonable start [verify before publishing].
Is a shade difference between batches a defect?
Slight variation between runs is normal in unscented white candles. A visible mismatch inside one carton is not. Put the tolerance in the purchase order, or nobody can be held to it.
What if I find defects after the container is sealed?
Rework before shipment is cheap. Rework after arrival is not. The photograph set and the burn log are what turn a complaint into something the supplier can answer.
Conclusion
Check positions before quantities, and burn behaviour before appearance. Put the defect list and its tolerances in the purchase order, because an unwritten standard cannot be enforced. Take the five loading photographs — the cheapest insurance in the order.
Post time: Nov-11-2026