Which IFRA Category? Candles, Wax Melts, Diffusers and Sprays

Which row of your fragrance oil's IFRA certificate you read depends on what you make. Under IFRA's guidance for the 51st Amendment, candles are Category 12 and reed diffusers are Category 10A. Manual room sprays are Category 10B. Plug-ins, incense, sachets and solid non-aerosol car diffusers are Category 12. Wax melts are not named anywhere in IFRA's guidance, so ask your supplier. I am a candle maker, not a lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice.

Which category is each product in?

Every row below comes from IFRA's guidance for the 51st Amendment (its Table 11), except the wax melt row, which comes from CandleScience.

Two details on sprays. IFRA's guidance puts metered automatic air fresheners (typically 0.05 to 0.5 ml per spray) in Category 12, and continuous-spray aerosols you press by hand in Category 10B, because a push-button near the spray "can result in some dermal exposure." On reed diffusers, the guidance says the more restrictive 10A placement "was chosen by IFRA and RIFM to reflect the potential exposure during manual handling (flipping) of the soaked reeds and/or the refill."

I did not find a row for car vent clips, hanging cards, linen sprays by that name, or anything else not in the table. Absence from the table means "ask," not "no limit."

What if my product is not on the list?

IFRA says its table is "a non-exhaustive illustrative list" and it cannot categorize every consumer product. For a product not in any category, it recommends that "the fragrance supplier and the customer company consult on the appropriate category." On its Standards page, IFRA also says the final decision and responsibility lies with the end consumer product manufacturer. So ask your fragrance supplier which row they would use, and get the answer in writing.

Wax melts are the usual case. CandleScience files them in Category 12 with candles. IFRA's guidance does not name them, so that is a supplier's reading, not IFRA's list. If your supplier's certificate or support team says the same, you have a documented answer.

What if one product has two uses?

IFRA's guidance says that for a finished product "marketed for applications that cross several uses, the most stringent restriction should apply." Say one spray is labeled for both rooms and pillows. The room spray row (10B) and the pillow spray row (11B) can differ, and the lower number is the one to follow for that spray. Better still, give each product one clear use and label it that way.

Will these categories change?

Maybe. IFRA's 51st guidance says a review of product types in Categories 10, 11 and 12 is "foreseen as part of the preparation of the 52nd Amendment." IFRA's end-of-consultation letter for the 52nd says "there was support for moving reed diffusers and related products from Category 10A to 10B," and that the phototoxicity limit for 10B is to be aligned with rinse-off products at 50 ppm. IFRA says the Notification is expected in January 2027. Until it is published, the 51st placements above are what I would use. See the 51st and 52nd Amendment guide for the timeline.

Worked example (made-up oil)

Say a certificate for "Oil X" lists Category 12 at 100, Category 10B at 12.00 and Category 10A at 3.50. These numbers are invented. IFRA's guidance says limits are weight-per-weight percent, so they are percent of the finished product by weight.

• Candle: Category 12 is 100. The certificate does not hold you back, so your wax's maximum load is the limit.
• Manual room spray: Category 10B, so up to 12.00 percent of the finished spray.
• Reed diffuser: Category 10A, so up to 3.50 percent of the finished diffuser liquid.

The same bottle of oil gives three very different ceilings. For converting a percent of the finished candle into a load on the wax, see which limit wins. For reading the table itself, see how to read an IFRA certificate.

Common mistakes

• Using a candle's Category 12 number for a reed diffuser or room spray.
• Assuming wax melts are named by IFRA. They are not, so confirm with the supplier.
• Using an old certificate for a reed diffuser. CandleScience says reed diffuser rates changed with the 49th Amendment, so check which Amendment the certificate names.
• Guessing the category for a product that is not on IFRA's list instead of asking.