tea light cups caught on fire

[ksranch]

Thanks for the tip on Peaks, I was thinking of trying a few scents from them anyway.

You will love them!! For me, all suppliers have hits & misses on FO, but Peaks has yet to disappoint me..

[cary]

plastic and fire together dont make no sense to me at all even if it is so called "fire proof" just my opinion

[Stella1952]

plastic and fire together dont make no sense to me at all even if it is so called "fire proof" just my opinion

Me either, Cary.

[Ravens]

Tea-light cups can also be found at LS; they are aluminum; here's the link:

http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com/products/candlemakingaccessories_tealight-cups-(aluminum).html

[JanetsCandles]

You can also get them from CandleChem. They are located in Brockton, MA so may not have horrible shipping. They also carry some of the candle glass and other stuff so you can order for multiple products and save yourself some shipping too.

[debratant]

It was my tea light that caught on fire in the melter. It was scary. I was shocked. Not because I'm stupid and don't think plastic can catch fire, but

because I've used these tea lights for years and never had an issue. I also got mine from CS. Funny though, ya sure do see alot of them on websites

and also now being sold in stores by big name companies. As an example...I picked up these little candles from Bath & Body Works from slatkin that

are about twice the size of tea lights, in plastic. Funny that a company like that would take such risk using it when it's not safe. Just sayin.

[EricofAZ]

I don't know what wick was used here, but I've had concerns that a lot of folks overwick their tealights. TL 10's are a good starting place. Very few wicks are that small. I see charts that talk about zinc 28's and PK13's and Eco 1's for tealights. Those are way too big.

[simply fragrant]

It was my tea light that caught on fire in the melter. It was scary. I was shocked. Not because I'm stupid and don't think plastic can catch fire, but

because I've used these tea lights for years and never had an issue. I also got mine from CS. Funny though, ya sure do see alot of them on websites

and also now being sold in stores by big name companies. As an example...I picked up these little candles from Bath & Body Works from slatkin that

are about twice the size of tea lights, in plastic. Funny that a company like that would take such risk using it when it's not safe. Just sayin.

debratant, I have burned those BBW candles in plastic too, did not have a problem, oops, I must be stooopid, lol!!! I did have 2 unscented tealights in metal containers catch on fire a few years ago that were purchased for a tl warmer. I have had plastic tl containers that never caused a problem, so really it is evident that any container can cause a problem. Nope, you are not stupid, and neither is the original poster, you just had a fluke container, and/or wick wax fo combo. Who will ever know? As much as I loved t lights, I will not use either type anymore, but that is just my experience and the chances of it ever happening to me again are probably next to nil. I just happen to like other types of candles now. Fortunately for all of us, there are some really considerate people here who will share their knowledge with consideration...as for the others, the Terms of Service in the FAQ section guides us on how to handle them. Have a good evening!

[Stella1952]

The only thing different about an aluminum tealight cup catching fire and a tealight in a plastic cup catching fire is that the plastic cup is flammable, too. Bad enough the candle should catch fire, but at least the aluminum ones are in a non-flammable container...

Funny that a company like that would take such risk using it when it's not safe. Just sayin.

I could be stooopid, too, but I suspect those corporations may have deeper pockets than most of us do when it comes to litigation. I'll bet they carry more liability insurance, too. Unlike big companies, I don't have deep pockets, maybe I should have married a defense attorney but I didn't, and cannot afford to defend myself against a lawsuit the way that larger companies can. They factor in failures like this as a cost of doing business - I think of the human cost... can't help it.

The CPSC recalls contain a lot of recalled tealights - both plastic cup and aluminum cup. I think Eric is spot on about many tealights being overwicked. I wonder (and this is just a gut-level hunch) if, because tealights are so small, people tend to not take them as seriously as they do a larger candle...

Having said that, so far, none of the tealights I have purchased nor any I have made in either plastic or aluminum cups have caught fire and I am grateful for that. I don't sell tealights, but I do still occasionally make them for myself... I'm still working on using up 1,000 plastic tea cups I purchased before I realized how often these little candles DO cause problems...

I will not use either type anymore, but that is just my experience and the chances of it ever happening to me again are probably next to nil. I just happen to like other types of candles now.

I don't blame you one little bit. All it usually takes is ONE fire to make a true believer out of a person! I lost a home to fire 18 years ago (not due to candles) and I have never forgotten what that feels like. I have had good success making little candles in glass holders, such as oyster cups, and I feel more confident of them in terms of safety. ALL candles can catch fire - if a wick has a flame, the potential is there... I wouldn't make a bigger candle in a plastic container, I don't feel very warm and fuzzy about metal containers, so that leaves ASTM rated glass containers for me.

There are many people who DO make very well designed tealights, and I applaud their efforts, but personally, I just do not want the risk or responsibility of selling them to others.

[CandleCrazyGal]

I picked up these little candles from Bath & Body Works from slatkin that

are about twice the size of tea lights, in plastic. Funny that a company like that would take such risk using it when it's not safe. Just sayin.

They ended up having the same problem with catching fire and pulled them from the shelves. It wasn't widespread but one fire is one too many.

[Stella1952]

They ended up having the same problem with catching fire and pulled them from the shelves. It wasn't widespread but one fire is one too many.

I HOPE you'll report your experiences to the CPSC. It only takes a moment... http://cpsc.gov/

[CandleCrazyGal]

I HOPE you'll report your experiences to the CPSC. It only takes a moment... http://cpsc.gov/

It didn't happen to me. I haven't burned my candles from there since they were pulled, but mine never had an issue. A co-worker had it happen to her and I will def give her the link. She reported it to B&BW and a couple of weeks later they were pulled for further testing so she probably wasn't the only one to report the issue.

[Bernadette]

I have watched 1hour and 2 hour programs of Slatkin Candles on QVC. After watching with my jaw dropped, I would never buy one! They have these huge flames, very deep meltpools, and lots of smoke that you can see as you watch them burn. Now...it's possible that they light all the candles up hours before they are on, so they're ready, but I highly doubt it. I have always thought that they overwick all their candles. The larger plastic tealight cups that are about twice the diameter of our normal ones are called mega tealights. Alot of manufactures mistakenly think you have to wick up on these because of increased diameter, but you get a perfectly descent flame from a regular tealight wick, and up to 20 hours of burn time.:tiptoe: