Make and sell candles and wax melts: CLP labelling

These rules apply in Great Britain. Northern Ireland follows EU rules on chemical labelling and product safety.

When fragrance brings in CLP labelling

A candle or wax melt is a mixture of wax, fragrance oil and colour. Wax is generally not hazardous. The usual trigger is a skin sensitiser in the fragrance oil. Wax melts and candles follow the same test.

Classification is decided one sensitiser at a time, as a share of the finished product. You do not add different sensitisers together. When one sensitiser reaches the higher limit, the product is classified as a skin sensitiser and needs a full hazard label. When one reaches only the lower limit, a short allergy statement naming the substance is enough. A classified product also names any other sensitiser at or above the lower limit.

Work out your label

Small candles and tealights still need the full label. If it does not fit on the packaging that holds the product, use a fold-out label, a tie-on tag or the outer packaging.

Labels and packaging must not say "non-toxic" or "ecological" where that suggests the product is not hazardous or contradicts its classification.

Warnings on the label

Within the limits of your activities, you must give buyers the information they need to assess risks that are not obvious and to take precautions. A warning does not make an unsafe product safe.

The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 create that duty. Trading Standards take national standards into account when judging whether a product is safe, so a label that follows BS EN 15494 supports your case.

General product safety

The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 apply to every candle and wax melt you sell, whether or not it needs a CLP label. You are the producer if you make the product or sell it under your own name. You must sell only safe products. Electric wax warmers and other plug-in products fall under separate electrical safety law.

Testing and records

No law names a test for candles or requires an accredited laboratory. You must carry out sample testing where that is reasonable. A burn test of each new product, recorded with your safety data sheets and batch records, is a practical way to meet this duty.

Replacement of the 2005 Regulations

Selling online

If your product carries a CLP hazard label or the short allergy statement, your online listing must state the type of hazard shown on the label. This applies when a customer can buy without first seeing the label (Article 48(2) of GB CLP).

Your website must also show your name, geographic address and email address. The consumer distance selling rules on pre-contract information and cancellation apply to online sales.

If you break the rules

Breaking the CLP labelling rules or the general safety requirement is a criminal offence.

Where to get help

Ask your local council's Trading Standards service to check a label before you sell. For sales between businesses, ask the Health and Safety Executive. In Northern Ireland, ask the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland about chemical labelling.