What Size Box Does Your Candle Need?
Measure the vessel and add 6 mm to the diameter and 4 mm to the height with the lid on. That is the inside size of a carton that holds the candle still and closes. The table gives the result for the vessels we see most.
| Candle | Vessel size | Inside box size | Style that fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 oz tin | 2.75 by 1.75 in | 76 x 76 x 48 mm | Tuck end or sleeve |
| 8 oz straight sided jar | 2.9 by 3.5 in | 80 x 80 x 93 mm | Tuck end with insert |
| 12 oz straight sided jar | 3.3 by 4 in | 90 x 90 x 106 mm | Tuck end or rigid |
| 16 oz jar | 3.5 by 4.75 in | 95 x 95 x 125 mm | Rigid or B flute shipper |
| 3 by 6 in pillar | 3 by 6 in | 82 x 82 x 156 mm | Tuck end |
| 10 in taper, pair | 0.9 by 10 in | 50 x 26 x 258 mm | Long tuck end |
Measure a flared jar at its widest point and count the lid in the height.
Which Candle Box Style Suits Which Candle?
Match the style to the vessel, because the vessel decides what can fail. A glass jar needs a snug insert and a crush resistant board. A pillar is tall and unsupported and wants a tight tuck end carton. A taper needs a carton cut to its length rather than a stock box with void fill. Votive and soy candles share these builds.
How Do You Keep Heat And Fragrance Oil From Damaging The Box?
Coat the inside face and keep the candle off bare board. Every common wax softens below the temperature inside a parked van, and the table gives the point where each one starts to move.
| Wax | Softens from | Risk in the box | What the carton needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soy | about 113F | Sweats oil in a hot van | Aqueous coating inside |
| Paraffin blends | 115F to 155F | Scuffs the inside face | SBS carton with a coating |
| Beeswax | about 145F | Brittle, chips at the rim | An insert that stops movement |
| Coconut and soy blends | 100F to 110F | Deforms on a warm doorstep | Rigid or corrugated with insert |
Fragrance oil is the slower problem. It wicks into uncoated board within weeks and shows through a white carton as a gray ring. An aqueous coating on the inside face stops it for the cost of one extra pass.
Which Board Should Your Candle Sit In?
Board decides whether a one pound jar arrives whole and what the surface will accept. SBS folding carton at 300 to 400 GSM takes full CMYK, foil and spot UV and suits jar candles in retail. Kraft at 350 to 400 GSM prints over a white undercoat for natural brands. E flute at about 1.6 mm sits on a shelf and still ships. B flute at 2.5 to 3.2 mm and 32 to 44 ECT is for boxes that ship alone. Wrapped rigid greyboard at 1.5 to 2 mm carries gift sets.
How Do You Ship A Candle Without Breaking It?
Hold the jar still and give the glass a buffer on every side. A jar breaks at the shoulder when the box lets it move. A foam or corrugated insert cut to the jar diameter removes the movement and a B flute shipper absorbs the drop.
Candles sold direct go into a candle shipping box with the insert built in, so the retail carton arrives clean. Candle box inserts are also sold on their own for stock cartons.
How Is Your Logo Printed On A Candle Box?
Offset for photographic artwork, Pantone for a brand color that has to match the jar label and hot foil where the box has to read as a gift. A black or navy carton takes gold or copper foil more cleanly than white ink, which needs two hits to cover.
Foil and embossing need 350 GSM and above because thinner board loses the impression.
Artwork comes in as vector PDF or AI on our dieline with 3 mm bleed and the Pantone references from the jar label. Brands without a dieline can build one from the jar size in our free dieline generator.
Does A Window Help A Candle Sell?
A window shows the vessel and the wax color, which matters where the buyer has not met the brand. The patch is 150 to 250 micron PET film over a die cut aperture held to about 1 mm. A window removes board from the panel, so keep it on the front and off the corners.
How Do You Order Custom Candle Boxes Wholesale?
Send the vessel measurements or a candle through our quote form and a dieline and a price come back within the week. A candle still in development needs only the jar or mold size. The terms below hold for 100 boxes and for 5,000.
- Minimum order is 100 units per size and design across every material in this range
- Price breaks arrive at 500 and 1,000 units on one artwork and not across mixed designs
- Production takes 8 to 10 business days for folding carton and 10 to 12 for rigid and wrapped
- A plain sample takes 3 to 5 business days and a printed one takes 7 to 10
- No setup or tooling fees apply because the die and the plates sit inside your unit price
- Shipping is free across the United States on every order we take
The full range of custom packaging boxes sits on the home page.
The Customized Boxes