Is It Legal To Decorate Candles With Crystals, Dried Flowers and Herbs?
At Lemon Canary, we love creating personalised and custom candles with beautiful arrangements of crystals, dried flowers and other embellishments. When made with love and intention this type of feature crystal candle is special, one-of-a-kind and amazing gift.
But a question we are occasionally asked about candles with crystals in them is…
“Is putting crystals and dried flowers on a candle legal?”
or…
“Is that safe?”
The short answer is… yes.
It is legal and a candle made correctly with crystals and dried flowers in this way is as safe as any other candle.
So why do some people spread untruths about beautifully decorated crystal candles? And why does some of this criticism come from amateur and professional candle makers?
One possible reason is that these people have never tried or been trained in candle embellishment. I think most have made assumptions and never even burned a candle like this before to see what happens.
0 safety related issues
In our 8 years of making candles like these we have not seen or been told by our customers of any kind of safety issue relating to embellishing candles with crystals and dried flowers.
The misunderstanding about ‘combustible candle holder’ government legislation
A common reason some people believe candles decorated with crystals, dried flowers and embellishments are illegal or unsafe is in our opinion due to a misunderstanding of some government legislation in Australia regarding combustible candle holders.
Over the years various imported novelty candles and combustible candle holders have been recalled due to safety concerns. For this reason legislators thought it wise to ban candle holders and decorations that remain on fire for more than 5 seconds.
Back in 2014 the ACCC (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission) issued a press release entitled, “ACCC warns of dangerous candle holders and decorations.” It basically warned consumers and reminded us of the legislation that rules combustible candle holders and decorations that can catch on fire and remain on fire for more than five seconds instead of self-extinguishing should not be used. Here’s the article if you want to check it out.
https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-warns-of-dangerous-candle-holders-and-decorations
The ACCC also listed the recalled products this warning was in relation to and here’s a video of one of them…
As you can see, this type of candle is dangerous and deserves to be banned but is a long way from a carefully decorated candle where the dried flowers gently sink into a wax pool without a burn on them.
Buy from an experienced and reputable candle maker
It must also be said that we cannot endorse every flower embellished candle out there because there are some poorly decorated candles that may cause problems. You are best to purchase this type of candle from a maker with a long history of safety and a reputation for professional candle decoration, like Lemon Canary 😉
Here’s one last thing for you to consider… insurance for candle makers.
If making crystal and flower embellished candles was not allowed you would think getting business insurance as a candle maker might be a problem. But it’s not, because these kinds of candles when made properly do not pose any addition risk than a standard candle
Don’t take our word for it. Have a look at someone like AUZi Insurance for instance. They specialise in insurance for candle makers. If you’re a candle maker have a chat to them to discuss this further, here’s a link… https://www.auzi.com/portal/candle-makers-insurance/
And if you’d like to do some more research here’s some useful links…
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2010L03283/Explanatory%20Statement/Text
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/latest-news/happy-birthday-to-you-musical-candles-public-warning
With any candle comes an element of danger, that’s why there is a warning sticker about it’s proper and safe use. A professionally embellished candle with dried flowers and crystals is no different. Used properly and according to the instructions, a decorated and embellished custom crystal candle can bring joy to your heart and light to your home.
If you’re still not convinced, before you make up your mind, try one!
Note: The above article outlines our current understanding and interpretation of this subject. It should not be taken as advice. Please do your own research and come to your own conclusion. This article is written for Australians. If you live in another country please refer to your country’s rules and regulations as they may not be the same as Australia.
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LEMON CANARY
We all have stories… losing loved ones, celebrating milestones, moments of deep gratitude. Sometimes only a special and amazing, one-off, thought-filled, love-saturated gift will do. And that’s what Lemon Canary loves doing best.
