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Flashpoint. Because this topic never gets old.


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Flashpoint is the temperature at which something will combust if introduced to a spark or flame. It is most important to know your flashpoint when shipping liquids. The US Dept of a Transportation has strict guidelines for how liquids of various flash points need to be packaged and shipped.

 

if your bottle of fragrance has a flash point of 150*F, it means the contents of the bottle can combust if the bottle reaches a temp of 150*F and someone has a flame or makes a spark close enough  to the vapors escaping the open bottle. The fragrance's flash point is raised when it is blended into wax or even a carrier oil. The amount it is raised by depends on the proportion of the whole blend.

 

when making candles, melts, etc. use the wax manufacturer's recommended temperature for blending in the fragrance. This helps ensure you are fully blending the fragrance into the wax so you minimize chances of seepage, pooling and settling of the fragrance. 

 

Any pockets or settled out fragrance increases eases your chances of accidentally catching a candle on fire.

 

 

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Thank you, thank you, thank you! When I worked at BC doing tech support I can't tell you how many times I was told a person was mixing an FO into the wax at 120 because that is what the FP was. FP is irrelevant when mixing wax and FO. It really only applies in candle making with gel, and there are other criteria there as well as being non polar but not because of fear of flash while mixing.

 

Folks need to understand the shipping component in relation to FP. Every carrier type is different as well. Air/Ground etc.

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Awesome info, TallTayl, and you're right...it never gets old. In Facebook groups, I've seen people swear up and down that their melts/candles came out better because they add their FO in at the flashpoint temp rather than at the manufacturer's recommended temp and encourage others to do the same. I know those who try to explain what the flashpoint means must feel like broken records, lol...but it needs to be put out there to hopefully educate those who will take the time to listen and research.

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On 5/18/2017 at 4:58 AM, Flicker said:

Thank you, thank you, thank you! When I worked at BC doing tech support I can't tell you how many times I was told a person was mixing an FO into the wax at 120 because that is what the FP was. FP is irrelevant when mixing wax and FO. It really only applies in candle making with gel, and there are other criteria there as well as being non polar but not because of fear of flash while mixing.

 

Folks need to understand the shipping component in relation to FP. Every carrier type is different as well. Air/Ground etc.

how is that so Flicker? If you added a fragrance above its flashpoint , how come it doesn't evaporate off? Please excuse my ignorance ,but there are thousands of different stories about adding fragrance! What is you advice on it? DO you recommend a set temp? thankyou

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12 hours ago, obsessed said:

how is that so Flicker? If you added a fragrance above its flashpoint , how come it doesn't evaporate off? Please excuse my ignorance ,but there are thousands of different stories about adding fragrance! What is you advice on it? DO you recommend a set temp? thankyou

please dont bother replying... I re-read everything and I get it now! LOL Sorry to be a pest ... I was writing that really late at night. I will NOT ask anyomre questions about flashpoint fragrance adding!! I promise! LOL

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When people worry about the flash point of fragrance I like to look around the house at typical stuff with low flash points we use every single day.

 

Maybe we should make a list of flash points of common household items to make the point? 

 

The flash point for aerosol lemon pledge, for instance, is <20*F. (http://www.mcoe.us/view/1763.pdf)

Do people crank up the AC so their house is under 20*F when using pledge to dust? Doubtful. You just know not to light up a fire near where you are spraying it. 

 

Pam Cooking Spray (http://www.biritefoodservice.com/pdf/703377.pdf) is less than 100*F, yet people use it next to a preheated oven to allow cakes to slip on out of the pan.

 

Vanilla extract is often high in alcohol, yet we cook with it...

 

Perfumes and colognes have extremely low flash points, yet they stick on our clothing and skin (sometimes waaaay too long and strong). 

 

it it comes down to a little common sense, doesn't it?


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Flashpoint is very important when mailing fragrances. USPS is very clear about what should or should not be mailed and how it must be packaged.  

 

http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52apxc_001.htm#ep999476

 

Makes me crazy mad to see suppliers violating these rules, then filing claims against the usps for "mishandling" the packages that were not prepared correctly in the first place. 

 

Drives me to xanax when I see destash photos where someone puts a glass bottle into a padded envelope (worse yet one of those letter envelopes) then gets gnarly when the bottle breaks in transit, ruining the mail of many other people and possibly putting people in danger.

 

 

USPS regs 3A flammable liquid (FP 20-100*F)  http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52apxc_010.htm

USPS regs 3b, combustible liquid (FP 140-199*F)  http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52apxc_011.htm

 

 

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TallTayl you must be in some of the groups on face book! I just cannot tell you how many times I have heard flash point and also shipping a glass candle in a padded envelope. It really is unbelievable some of the things I see in some of the groups, gets comical at times. Sometimes I try to help and other times just figure it is better to say nothing.  Sorry for bold print, can't get it off!

 

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Oh grama the stuff we have seen for sure! Someone shipped a 1lb bottle of lime essential oil (hello sensitivity and flash point) in a paper mailer. No bag. No cushion. You know what happens next.... buyer is upset it shattered all over. PO is fuming it ruined people's mail. Mail carrier smells like a margarita for weeks.  The seller had had the nerve to blame the post office. 

 

A popular Facebook fragrance seller recently was called out for not bagging the fragrance bottles nor tightening or taping tops. Lemon seeped all over and the seller is filing claims with the PO. I bought from that seller once and was appalled at the condition, but I sure won't be the one sticking my neck out to offer words of advice to that group! When working commercial we had to certify shipping people were fully trained on the regs or risk huge fines. Now anyone can hang out a shingle. 

 

We all lose in the end as the post office wises up. Soon no claims will honored. Soon liquids will be forbidden through usps. They have cracked down on pottery. If you don't pack the way they state no claim honored. End of story.

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On ‎5‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 8:06 AM, obsessed said:

how is that so Flicker? If you added a fragrance above its flashpoint , how come it doesn't evaporate off? Please excuse my ignorance ,but there are thousands of different stories about adding fragrance! What is you advice on it? DO you recommend a set temp? thankyou

Flash point has nothing at all to do with evaporation, whatsoever.
Think of it this way...if fragrances were so instable they burned off at 120, you could never burn that candle without it just burning off. Flash point is ONLY the point at which the product will ignite IF exposed to a flame at that temp or above.

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  • 1 year later...

This is from a FB group:

"you must add FO at or below Flashpoint or ALL of your fragrance will burn off and your candle will not have ANY throw. Don't use the suppliers recommendations because they are just supplying the supplies and don't know how to make a candle"

Sometimes you just have to walk away.

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3 hours ago, Lizzy said:

This is from a FB group:

"you must add FO at or below Flashpoint or ALL of your fragrance will burn off and your candle will not have ANY throw. Don't use the suppliers recommendations because they are just supplying the supplies and don't know how to make a candle"

Sometimes you just have to walk away.

False.

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  • 4 months later...
On 8/25/2018 at 4:57 AM, Lizzy said:

This is from a FB group:

"you must add FO at or below Flashpoint or ALL of your fragrance will burn off and your candle will not have ANY throw. Don't use the suppliers recommendations because they are just supplying the supplies and don't know how to make a candle"

Sometimes you just have to walk away.

 

Oh lordy! :shocked2:

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