1There's a lot more to candles than lights the eye.
2Before they were invented, people relied on candles made with wicks floating in flammable, spillable oil.
3In the past, candles weren't just used for illumination.
4Since they burn at such a steady rate, people have even used them as clocks.
5Thanks to electricity, candles no longer have to illuminate our homes.
6They can simply brighten our evenings with atmospheric lighting.
7This wax has been made into a powder with a rotating bar that sprays drops of hot wax into the air.
8As the drops fall, they cool and become solid wax particles.
9A specialized machine called a core press, vacuums the powder and begins a multi-step process.
10A series of small tube-shaped holes are filled with powder.
11Then, hydraulic pistons compress the powder into short cylinders.
12Transport units move them to the next station.
13The compressed wax cylinder will form the core of the candle
14and prevent the burning wick from touching the edges of the glass.
15First, the candle needs a wick and a sustainer.
16The metal sustainer is the wick's base.
17This machine shoots wicks into the sustainers, crimps them,
18and inserts the components into the candle core.
19A machine places drops of glue in the bottom of a series of small glass containers
20before placing the candle cores inside.
21The glue holds the sustainers in place to prevent them from sliding around when hot.
22Onto the next phase of production.
23Liquefied wax is poured into a mixing tank.
24A technician pours in a series of additives,
25that include plasticizers to help solidify the wax and prevent crystallization,
26as well as UV light inhibitors that can protect the wax from color fading.
27He pours a pre-measured quantity of dye into the container.
28An agitator begins the mixing process, which takes 20 to 30 minutes
29to ensure that everything is thoroughly combined.
30The wax temperature is maintained at 185 degrees Fahrenheit
31so the liquid is kept in its liquid state.
32Then the liquid wax travels through tubing to a computerized filling station.
33A set of nozzles fill the jars, surrounding and covering the cores.
34Once filled, the jars move slowly through two separate cooling chambers.
35The candles undergo extensive quality control testing for flame height
36and temperature on the exterior of the container.
37This facility also manufactures tealight candles.
38The containers are made of aluminum alloy, pressed into a cup shape with small panels at the bottom
39designed to direct melted wax to the center.
40Moved by air, the containers fall into a sorter,
41which spins them into an upright position
42and onto a conveyor that offloads them to the next stations.
43Like candles, tealights require sustainers and glue to hold the wick in place.
44The steel discs drop into a vibrating sorting device.
45A giant spool of waxed thread is fed into the wicking machine.
46The machine cuts and inserts it into the sustainer clip
47and glues the assembly into a tealight container.
48The containers with sustainers and wicks in place move to a circular buffering table,
49which disperses into three channels.
50A multi-prong device advances the containers onto the filling machine's conveyor system.
51The machine fills the containers in a two-step process:
52filling them halfway, letting them cool,
53then filling them up and cooling the completed product.
54The two-step filling process ensures a consistent product
55at a faster manufacturing rate.
56The cooling chamber circulates air through the space at a specific temperature
57to cool the candles at a calibrated rate.
58From start to finish, it takes just 45 minutes to produce and package a tealight.
59There's a lot more to that cozy candle glow than just wax and wicks.