MADE by DWC candles and candle holders

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No incident, no one hurt

   Made Jan 11, 2025 · , sent to the company Jan 31, 2025 · , published by CPSC Feb 14, 2025

   The product, in the report: madebydwc.org, all candle products of all sizes since the program’s inception. Included documents, which are 2, the written part is a draft, but I’m submitting this as soon as possible

   Former L.A. RISE temporary employee at Downtown Women’s Center for their MADE by DWC program (madebydwc.org). I have photos and is employee-wide. They “train” us to manufacture their products for their product line to support the program. Candles. Soaps. Bath Salts. (they also sell Coffee). I am aware that the soaps, bath salts, and coffee are FDA jurisdiction, but it’s relevant because it might be potential product contamination. I have photos of both the facility and the manufacturing process as much as I could before I resigned.

   All candles of all sizes and all scents as listed on the website are manufactured in a way that generates numerous large, deep into the candle cracks, and it happens in double digit times in each lot. It is not tracked. In fact, [REDACTED] all support this process as it has been occurring for years.Tthe production manager, is proud to have a 0 percent candle product rejection rate. She “repairs” the candles, especially the deep cracks that go deep into the candle, sometimes over an inch deep spanning near the votive glass. She then instructs us to “smash the candle down until the top is flat.” Not fill in the gaps, but mash the whole top of the candle down into the cracks, and I know that creates small gaps underneath where the was wasn’t smashed into the narrow cracks. So we smash the candle down to “fix” it, then hide the errors with a heat gun to conceal the smashing and thus the gap. We are also instructed to take wicks that are not centered, and we’re talking wicks that are adhered to the bottom over to the side if you look at the bottom of the candles, and we are then instructed to “center the wicks,” which means, even if the candle wick is over an inch over from the center and completely off, we “center” them by “pulling the wicks through the wax column, mashing it, then heat gunning it to conceal the work. The candles are stored in unwashed racks that share multiple scents together and have been in the same racks for years. No “flammable” “fragile” or “combustibles” signs on any of the transport equipment, storage racks, or wax melters. That entire process is called “Q.C.ing” the candles, short for “quality control.” After the mashing and heat gunning, we then stand at a station, with only gloves, no safety goggles or proper PPE because the gloves leach and leave the latex gloves scent on most things they touch. They are FDA approved gloves but they leach. We then are given a spray bottle of mislabeled isoropyl alcohol to then spray near the heat gun to clean the candle. So we spray the towel and then wipe down the votive with the alcohol-soaked towel. While we usually do the cleaning after the mashing and heat gunning, we spray the alcohol near the other unmasked candles during the process...imagine having cracked candles in front of you on a tray and you’re spraying alcohol on another in your hand with the others inches away...However, if any part of the process was done incorrectly by participants, considering sobriety and sound mental health is not a requirement for the program, it is clear to me that that is a direct danger of alcohol being caught in the cracks, then mashed into the cracks and sealed off from evaporation, essentially created a type of candle bomb. I complained to them about the process and it was reiterated to me by [REDACTED] that that is the procedure they chose and when I complained, she instead “retrained” me and told me “this is how we do things.” [REDACTED] supports [REDACTED] in those decisions, and as stated, has for years. In my time there, often, in 24 candle lots on each tray, often 1/3, or 1/2, sometimes the entire tray, has that cracking and caving issue, and the aforementioned solution is used every time.

   I take issue with the facility having FDA regulation, but has no FDA training, I was told they “have no inspectors,” ([REDACTED] told me that they have no inspectors because they don’t deal in food, made no mention of knowledge of CPSC jurisdiction over the products), and otherwise think they are exempt from all inspections, safety inspections and such. No OSHA training, no FDA training, no CPSC training for the product line. It’s not mentioned, not anywhere, not once. So the candles are thus contaminated in various ways. They’re stored uncovered within inches of a regularly used work restroom. They are not labeled correctly; the info is on the box, not the candle, and from what I know, the number of oz of the candle and its contents should be directly on the candle, but they have it directly on the box and not the candle. No Caution label on the outside of the box saying it is fragile and combustible contents. The contents are not shipped in a box that says “combustible” or “flammable.” I don’t know if they ship with a “fragile” label. The candles are all over the United States because they have been practicing interstate commerce for years. The candles are stored on the same racks as soaps without washing. Candle scents containers, often by the gallon, are stored in the racks themselves with the product.

   Particular incident occurred on 12/17. Photos included in documents. Construction was occurring within 3 feet of where I was working, construction above causing particulates, numerous ones, all over the floor, to fall down. [REDACTED], the Production Manager, did not say anything about it, and I just kept working as the subordinate. Her and [REDACTED] allowed construction to occur where particulates potentially fell into the candles and then were mashed into them from the construction. I could not get a photo of the matter on the floor, but if you look at the water dispenser, which was not covered properly by the crew, there was that white sheetrock matter, but more concentrated, that fell on the floor and presumably in the product that was at the edge of the table. I filled out a form about the candles produced that day by me, named [REDACTED] in their records, that I submitted to [REDACTED] at the end of my shift.

   Food is regularly stored near soap dispensers and wax dispensers, as in food given to program participants to eat.

   I tried to submit information about potential injury due to the alcohol contamination and the construction contamination but the form gave me an error and I was unable to make changes and update.

   Bought from

   MADE by DWC

   Where

   Los Angeles, California: Industrial

   Who was involved

   Unknown

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Unspecified

   As this report names them

   Brand MADE by DWC, made or sold by MADE by DWC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   No Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources