What Are Unscented Tea Lights Made Of?

Tea lights are small candles in containers, usually around an inch high and an inch or so in diameter. They are designed to provide several hours of gentle illumination from a relatively low, flat flame. While tea lights can come in colors and scents, “unscented tea lights” specifically refer to plain white tea lights with no added dyes or fragrances.

Unscented tea lights are made from just a few key components: wax, wicks, and containers. The wax provides the fuel for the candle flame, the wick draws the liquefied wax up to the flame, and the container holds it all together. Quality and composition of these components affects the candle’s burn time, brightness, and more. There are also questions around production methods and environmental impacts that many consumers consider when purchasing tea lights.

Wax

The wax used in unscented tea lights is typically paraffin wax, a petroleum-based wax. Paraffin wax is composed of hydrocarbons and is odorless, tasteless, and nontoxic. It has a low melting point, making it an ideal choice for tea lights and candles. Some key properties of paraffin wax include:

• Excellent thermal stability – it retains its shape as it melts due to a narrow melting range
• Low shrinkage – paraffin wax doesn’t shrink much as it solidifies, allowing it to retain the shape of the container
• Chemical inertness – doesn’t react with the wick or fragrance oils
• Low cost – paraffin is inexpensive compared to other waxes like beeswax

In some cases, other waxes like soy wax or beeswax may be blended with paraffin to modify the burning characteristics or make the candles more environmentally friendly. But paraffin remains the wax of choice for most unscented tea lights due to its ideal properties for candlemaking and low cost.

Wicks

Tea lights use a simple wick design to draw up wax for burning. Most tea light wicks are made of cotton or paper fibers. Cotton wicks are soft and flexible, with fine strands that soak up melted wax. Paper wicks also absorb wax well and tend to be stiff. The absorbent material transports wax via capillary action. As the wax burns, the wick slowly chars but also curls as it burns, exposing new sections to the flame. This allows the wick to continuously draw wax up to the burning tip.

Wick quality greatly impacts how well a tea light burns. Poor quality wicks don’t absorb wax efficiently. They produce weak flames, tunnel down, or leave melted wax unused. Well-constructed wicks burn steadily and completely consume wax. Manufacturers carefully control wick length, thickness, and materials to optimize tea light performance.

Dyes Provide Color Variety

Dyes are a key ingredient that give unscented tea lights their range of colors. Manufacturers use both natural and synthetic dyes to produce colors like red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, black, and more.

Common dye types used include:

• Natural dyes – Derived from plant sources like flowers, leaves, roots, bark, etc. Provide vivid but more expensive color options.
• Synthetic dyes – Made from chemical compounds and more affordable than natural dyes. Offer a wide spectrum of color choices.
• Food/FD&C dyes – Approved for food products and often used for coloring wax. Examples are Red 40 or Blue 1.

The type and amount of dye determines the final color produced. Manufacturers blend different dyes to create custom shades. More dye equals more saturated color. The wax and container also impact final color appearance.

Scents

Fragrance oils are commonly added to scented tea lights to give them pleasing aromas like vanilla, cinnamon, or floral notes. The fragrance oils used in scented tea lights are complex proprietary blends that allow manufacturers to achieve specific scents. The oils are mixed into the wax when the tea lights are made, and the aroma is released as the wax melts and evaporates when lit.

In contrast, unscented tea lights do not contain any added fragrance oils. Without fragrance oils added, unscented tea lights lack any distinct or noticeable aroma when burned. The natural smell of paraffin wax, which can have a faint petroleum-like odor, may be detectable but it is very subtle. The lack of fragrance makes unscented tea lights ideal for use in aroma diffusers, mixing with scented oils, or for those who prefer candles without strong scents.

Containers

Unscented tea lights usually come in small metal tins that are about 1-2 inches wide and 0.5-1 inches tall. The most common metals used for tea light containers are aluminum and steel. Both have advantages and disadvantages:

Aluminum:

• Very lightweight and inexpensive.
• Excellent heat conduction to melt the wax.
• Can leave black soot marks on surfaces.
• Not as durable as steel.

Steel:

• More durable but heavier than aluminum.
• Slower heat conduction.
• Usually coated to prevent rust.
• No black soot marks.

Some alternatives to metal tins are glass containers or soy wax containers. Glass holds up well to heat but can break if dropped. Soy containers are compostable but may not distribute heat as evenly.

Production

Unscented tea lights are mass produced in factories using specialized machines and assembly lines. The manufacturing process involves several steps:

Wax Production: The wax pellets or blocks used to make tea lights are produced in large quantities by melting and filtering paraffin or other waxes.

Wick Production: The wicks are made by machines that twist cotton threads together. They are cut to specific lengths for different sized tea lights.

Dyeing: The wax may be dyed different colors by adding pigments and dispersing them evenly through the melted wax.

Molding: The liquid wax is poured into molds to form the candle shape. Modern factories use automated wax injection machines that can produce thousands of tea lights per hour.

Wick Insertion: Assembly line workers or automated equipment insert the pre-cut wicks into the center of the molded candles.

Packaging: The finished tea lights are inspected, packed into boxes or other packaging, labeled, and prepared for shipping.

Quality Control: Samples are tested throughout the process to ensure the tea lights meet specifications for burn time, appearance, and safety.

By using specialized industrial equipment and streamlined processes, factories can mass produce unscented tea lights affordably and efficiently.

Quality Control

Tea lights undergo rigorous quality control testing to ensure they meet safety and performance standards. Manufacturers test tea lights at multiple stages during production:

Raw material testing – Wax, wicks, dyes, and any scents are tested to ensure they meet purity and composition specifications before being used in production.

In-process testing – Samples are pulled off the production line and evaluated for proper wax viscosity, wick placement, dye uniformity, scent strength, and other metrics. This confirms manufacturing processes are controlled.

Finished product testing – Packaged tea lights undergo testing to verify the product meets requirements. Key tests include:

• Burn time – Tea lights must burn within a specified time range (e.g. 4-6 hours) to meet performance claims.
• Flame height – Maximum flame height is measured to ensure tea lights do not pose a fire hazard.
• Wick integrity – Wicks are visually examined and burned to confirm they do not bend, mushroom, or release excess soot.
• Leakage – Tea lights are tipped and rotated to check for any wax leakage.

By conducting rigorous quality control testing at multiple production stages, manufacturers can ensure tea lights consistently meet safety and performance standards for consumers.

Cost

The cost of manufacturing unscented tea lights is impacted by several key factors:

Raw materials – The wax, wicks, and metal tins used to produce tea lights account for a significant portion of the overall cost. Paraffin wax tends to be more affordable than soy, palm, or beeswax alternatives.

Labor – While largely automated, some manual labor is still required in the production process. Manufacturing in countries with lower wages can help reduce labor expenses.

Energy – Heating the wax and powering the machinery involved in manufacturing incur energy costs that factor into the final price.

Transportation – Getting raw materials to the factory and shipping finished products to retailers requires fuel and logistics expenses.

Quantity – Producing tea lights in higher volumes generally lowers the per unit costs through economies of scale.

Given these factors, unscented tea lights can range in price from around $1-3 for a pack of 20-100 candles. Branded, specialty, or scented varieties are typically more expensive. Overall, tea lights remain one of the most affordable candle options available.

Environmental Impact of Unscented Tea Lights

Tea lights are generally considered an eco-friendly candle option compared to traditional paraffin wax candles. Here are some of the main environmental considerations around unscented tea lights:

Recyclability: The metal tins used for tea lights are fully recyclable. The wax and wicks used are also compostable. So tea lights have relatively little waste compared to other candle options. Just be sure to separate the metal tin from the wax remains before recycling and composting what you can.

Sustainable Materials: Most unscented tea lights are made from soy, vegetable, or beeswax. These natural waxes are a renewable and sustainable material compared to paraffin wax which is a petroleum byproduct.

Low Emissions: With no added scents or dyes, unscented tea lights burn very clean and release far fewer emissions than scented candles. Beeswax in particular has very low soot emissions when burning.

Minimal Packaging: Tea lights usually come in simple cardboard sleeves rather than larger plastic clamshells or boxes. This reduces their packaging footprint.

So while no consumer product is completely eco-friendly, unscented tea lights are a good option for environmentally conscious consumers looking for an alternative to scented candles.