The batch record and label release checklist

Stage one: before the melt

• Assign the lot code before you weigh anythingWrite it on the batch sheet and on painters tape stuck to the pot. A workable code carries the date and a sequence, such as 0412-C3, so a second pour the same afternoon never collides with the first.
• Record the supplier lot on every container you openWax carton, fragrance bottle, oils, lye, dye, wick spool. Copy the supplier lot number exactly as printed rather than writing a purchase date, because that string is what a supplier will ask for later.
• Confirm the formula version you are pouring toCheck fragrance load, vessel size and wick number against the version you last approved. A changed load is a new version, not a note in the margin of the old one.
• Check your label stock and panel details are currentResponsible party address, net weight for this vessel and the warning copy. Good looks like printing one test label before the pour rather than discovering an old address on forty eight tins.
• Note the room and wax temperature at pourTwo numbers written once. They are the first thing you will look at if the batch frosts, sinks, wet spots or refuses to release from the mold.

Stage two: at the bench

• Write the weights the scale actually showedNot the target. Real pours run a little over and under, and the recorded weight is what explains a soft bar or a weak throw when you come back to it in a month.
• Count units poured and units set aside separatelySinkholes, tunneled test burns, lopsided wicks and end cuts all count. This number is what makes your cost per sellable unit honest instead of optimistic.
• Tag the rack or shelf with the lot codeAn index card with the code and the ready date, taped where you cannot miss it. Two unlabeled racks of cream colored bars look identical by the following week.
• Start the cure clock with a date, not a feelingWrite the pour date and the calculated ready date on the same tag. Good looks like being able to walk the rack and see which shelf is packable without opening any records.
• Log anything that went sideways while it is freshSeized batter, an accelerating fragrance, a scale that drifted, a pour that got interrupted. One line at the time beats trying to remember which of six pours misbehaved.

Stage three: cure and hold

• Apply your cure rule for that product typeTwo weeks for many soy candles, four for most cold process bars, your own tested figure for anything else. Keep it consistent per product so ready dates mean the same thing every time.
• Test before release and write the result downA burn test on one candle from the pour, or a zap test and hardness check on a bar. Good looks like a recorded pass with a date, not a memory that it seemed fine.
• Weigh a cured bar against its poured weightWater loss during cure decides the net weight you can legally print. Weigh two bars from the middle of the rack rather than one from the end, and label to the cured figure.
• Hold the whole lot, not the top of the rackIt is tempting to pull the front row for a market on Saturday. If the lot is not ready, none of it is ready, and a partial release is exactly what breaks a lot trail.
• Record who released the batch and whenEven in a one person studio, a release date and initials close the record. It is the line that turns a pile of notes into something you can show a stockist or an inspector.

Stage four: label and ship

• Check every required element on the panelProduct identity, net quantity of contents, your business name and address, and the warning copy for candles or the ingredient listing for cosmetic products. Read them off the printed label, not the screen.
• Put the lot code on the unit itselfNot only on the shipping box. A code on the base of the tin or the back of the bar wrap is what makes a customer complaint traceable a year from now.
• Match the panel format to the product categoryA candle and a lotion bar do not carry the same panel. Sort the batch by category before printing so a cosmetic panel never lands on a jar of wax.
• Link the batch to the order as you packWrite the lot code on the packing slip copy or scan it into your records. Good looks like being able to search a customer name and see which pour they received.
• File the finished batch sheet where you can search itOne place, one naming convention, ideally by lot code. A sheet you cannot find within two minutes of a complaint arriving is not a record, it is paper.