How to Create a Quality Candle Product?

How to create a quality candle product? Let’s say you or your partner decided; that you really love creating candles, and you also have considered making a business out of it since you already know the whole candle process, you already know where to get the cost efficient supplies; you have developed your own system on how to do things, and you may have already built a network of repeat customers.

How to create a quality candle product? The next step is to grow your business so that you can make it more sustainable which means; that it will require you to hire employees to help you or your partner out. How to create a quality candle product? Once you get to this point, you need to simplify the process; and you should come up with a more organized plan suited for your goals; and your resources so that your candle making business will run efficiently.

The Art of Candle Making

How to create a quality candle product? If you hired employees that already have an idea; or experience when it comes to making different kinds of candles; then the process would be a bit easier when it comes to training them. However, if they don’t have any experience whatsoever; then it’s a must that you put in the time to really train your employees well and take small steps at first so; that they have the right foundation, work – ethic, and knowledge.

Keep in mind that candle making is a craft that only a few people know; so most likely you’ll end up hiring people that are not experts at this craft, it will take time to build and develop this skill; so don’t forget to also take it easy on them. Make it a fun and educational activity so that your team will enjoy working with you and learning from you. If you establish good rapport with your employees early on, your business operation will run efficiently in the long – term.

How to create a quality candle product? You also need to explain to them the step by step process of candle making. Make sure to emphasize the importance of quality is better than quantity. You need to let your employees know who your customers are and what kind of quality they expect; so that your employees know what kind of people are buying your products and how these customers are using the crafts they’ll be making.

Tips in Candle Making Training

How to create a quality candle product? Let your employees know how many candles they need to produce per hour so that your business don’t go under the quota otherwise this will incur labor cost on your company.

Tip #1

During training, show your employees how quickly and efficiently you can create candles so that they’ll have a desire to replicate the same efforts.

Tip #2

During training, you should also point out their mistakes if need be. You should of course do it through positive criticism. If you need to tell someone of the mistake that they made; do so by first telling them what they did right, before telling them the mistake they made. Start off with complements or positive statement before pointing out the negative. Do it politely but firmly; so that they can remember not to do it again thereby improving their overall work/ result.

Tip #3

Make sure that your employees have someone they can easily ask questions about the process if ever you’re not around. If there isn’t anyone like that, and your office is quite far from their work area; it’s a good idea to place an intercom system so that they can easily ask anything from you just by pushing a button. This way; you’re still connected with them even if you’re on to something else; and they will also feel that you’re an approachable boss.

Tip #4

Communication between you and your employees is very important. Keep in mind that they’re the ones who are going to make candles for you on a daily basis; which is why it’s wise to make them think of their own ways on how to do their job more efficiently, ask them for suggestions; and listen to what they have to say. You can even offer some incentives if any of them will suggest a more efficient way on how to run things. This way you’ll make them feel that they are valued; they will feel that they are part of the company and part of your success!

Candle Making Guidelines

How to create a quality candle product? This training manual should only serve as a guide so that you’ll have an idea on how to manage your employees; especially if they don’t have any experience in candle making. This is also a good place to start if it’s your first time training people or running a candle making company; just make the necessary adjustments and act accordingly. The following tips are what you need to show your employees so; that they’ll have an idea what kind of work ethic you have, and how the overall process works.

Guideline #1

Instruct and remind your employees to always clock in or log in on their specific work schedule so that they get to practice the habit of going to work on time. This is also a way for you to monitor them. You may want to give incentives to those people who never miss a day or those who always gets to work ahead of their schedule (early birds).

Guideline #2

How to create a quality candle product? Make sure to turn on your heat source to a low – medium setting, and ensure that the larger pan or bottom pan has around ½ inches of water.

Guideline #3

List all the materials you need and have a sort of work order sheet so that you won’t miss out on anything, and you know exactly what needs to be done in order of priority. It’s also helpful especially when it comes to deciding what kind of fragrances you’ll need to pour in your candles and which candle containers needs to be filled etc.

Guideline #4

Start preparing all the materials you need including the fragrance oils, pouring pots, color dyes etc. Place all the pouring pots or sauce pans that will fit in your heat source and set the remaining pouring pots for the next batch near the stove or heat source so that when the first batch is done, the next batch is all prepped – up and is also accessible to you/your employees. You see if you already have a system in place and you already prepared the things you’ll need and do, you and your employees will get to save lots of time, and the work becomes easy and efficient in the long run!

Guideline #5

How to create a quality candle product? Go back to your work order sheet or your checklist to make sure that you don’t miss out anything, and see if the container that needs to be filled for the day is all done. Pull all the containers and prepare them on your work area.

Guideline #6

You can use signs like an asterisk to see what specific fragrance oil or color dye needs to go to certain candle containers, it will also serve as a reminder to your employees on the things that is of top priority during their shift.

Guideline #7

How to create a quality candle product? Fill the pouring pot up to the line that’s scratched inside it. Don’t forget to remind your employees to fill appropriately all the pouring pots that needs filling.

Guideline #8

What you can do to ensure that the amount of fragrance oils, color dyes, and other additives is to write down including the name of the fragrance, exact color amounts that needs to be added in each pouring pot to avoid any mishaps.

Guideline #9

Make sure that you employees have their own work order sheet so that they know what needs to be done during their shift and what needs to be carried upon on the next employee that will do their job. Make sure to also put fragrance labels on the side of the jars that your employees will be using.

It’s important that you / your employees label it properly for 2 reasons; the first one is that it’ll help prevent your employees from forgetting what needs to be filled; and the specific fragrance that should be used for each container. Make sure to place the unused fragrances in appropriate places and also label them up so that it’ll be easy to find and identify during production.

Guideline #10

How to create a quality candle product? Instruct your employees to always start with one of the fragrance oils that have a priority sign based on the work order sheet. Remind them to never add fragrance oils to the pouring pots until everything is checked; and is ready to go in order to avoid any wasted oils as fragrances are very expensive.

Guideline #11

Make sure to show your team how to properly fill the entire candle molds/ containers; as well as the sizes and number of candle wicks needed for each candle. Post your reminders and candle size guides/ charts on the wall for their reference.

Guideline #12

How to create a quality candle product? Fill all the molds to the appropriate pouring line; and remind them to wait until the first pour is starting to settle on top of the mold. Make sure that they’ll use the appropriate wick size for each candle type.

Guideline #13

Once each step is done for each candle mold, make sure to place the pouring pot back to its alphabetical location on the shelf so that it can be easily accessed by the next employee. You can also let your employee mark the working sheet by putting a check mark including the finished container so that there wouldn’t be any form of duplication or wrong finished products. 

Guideline #14

Make sure that before the candles are move; your employees should be able to see an obvious thick creamed film on top of it. Once they do, move the containers to the back of your working bench so that there’d be room for your next batch of candles. Repeat all of the steps at least an hour before the scheduled training time so that you’ll see if your employees can do it by themselves efficiently.

Guideline #15

How to create a quality candle product? Once everything is set up; the next step is for you to check your employee’s work at the end of the day. Check if the quota was made and if the end product is of good quality. Take note of the employees who made it so that you’ll know what needs to be improved; or who needs to be complimented etc.

Guideline #16

Don’t forget to also instruct them to put company labels on all your products. Once it’s done; move all the products to the fulfillment or finishing area, and separate each candles according to their types so that it’ll be ready to go and easy to identify come shipping time.

Guideline #17

Once it’s all placed properly in the finishing area; go back to the production area and check if all the pouring pots, fragrance oils, color dyes, additives, wax, wicks, and all candle making materials are placed on the right shelves and are cleaned up before you let your employees leave their work area.

Assessment

How to create a quality candle product? After doing all of that, what you can do at least in the first few weeks is to let your employees fill up an “Improvement form.” This is where they can suggest how to speed up the process, how to do things more efficiently and of course your comments so far on what they need to perhaps improved on and also positive affirmations about their work. This way, you and your employees can measure if the goals for the day are met and the things that they might need to work on.