All about wax

Tim Blake

There are many choices of wax that are used in candles.  Some of these waxes have better throw and some burn longer and cleaner.

I can't tell you how confusing it was when we first started looking at making candles.  Paraffin was the mainstay, right??  Well we thought so and for many candle makers it still is.

Wax-  is basically a fuel which requires a heat source which melts and vaporizes a small amount of the fuel (wax).  Once vaporized, the fuel combines with oxygen to ignite and keeps a flame.  This flame has enough heat to keep the candle burning by melting the top of the wax drawing fuel upward through the wick and vaporizes to burn in the candles flame.  There ya go!! :)
There are many types of "oils" that can be used to make candles as we found in our research.

Coconut, Palm, Bees, Paraffin, Soy.....so which to use...ugh!  Our research began.  We had used Yankee candles which use a refined Paraffin wax in most of their candles.  We used Soy wax candles but never really liked the scent throw cold or hot.  We started with a paraffin wax and tested several types over a 3 month period but we also wanted a cleaner burning candle.  We spent some time with the Soy and still found it was more difficult to get a good scent throw.  After talking with wax suppliers and doing some more researching about Soy we found out it is more difficult for the fragrance to bind with the melted Soy at the molecular level causing a more subtle scent when burning.

SOY WAX

Soy is used in a lot of candle making and people tend to think it is more environmentally friendly compared to traditional Paraffin wax, and, yes, it burns slower and cleaner.  But, again has a more subtler scent throw as Soy doesn't hold as much fragrance.  That being said, many people like the softer scent.
Soy candle haven't been around a long time and is a vegetable wax from soybean oil.  While soy is a better choice environmentally speaking, it still has a few eco issues.  Soybean oil is a byproduct of the soybean industry and there are concerns over the deforestation and the use of pesticides and fertilizers used to grow the bean.

Coconut Wax

While coconut wax is a great new wax in the industry and is very eco friendly but tends to be very expensive.

Beeswax

Beeswax is probably the oldest type of wax and is great for it's own natural honey aroma but doesn't really mix with other scents.  Beeswax candles are considered the healthiest because they are smokeless and sootless.

Paraffin Wax

Before Soy and Coconut, there was Paraffin.  Paraffin wax is still popular with many hign end candle makers because it holds color and scent very well, and is easily available.  Green-minded people often label it as bad because it's made from leftovers of the crude oil.  This doesn't automatically make it toxic, and the upside is that parts of the oil that would be discarded are getting used.

Soy-Blend wax

So, deep breath, after all of this research and what what we wanted to have in a great candle, we decided to use a blend of both Soy and Paraffin to make our candles.  We use a blend of approximately 53% Soy and 47% Paraffin in our wax.  This blend is cleaner than straight Paraffin because the Soy and has a great scent throw the Paraffin allows, and has a beautiful creamy texture.  

We know there are a lot of candles to choose from and we truly believe we came up with the best solution for a great candle that is cleaner and still has a wonderful scent throw, cold and hot.

Tim

Our blog posts are meant to be informative about the things we have learned through our product testing and learning about aspects of what we make.  We hope you enjoy the posts.

Sandra & Tim

 

 

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