Soy Candle Wax Is This the Best Wax Yet?

Candles have been around for a while. They’re nothing new, but even technology as old as this can continue to evolve. Just to prove that there’s always something new under the sun, there’s a new candle wax on the scene.

In the past, tallow (rendered from various animal fats) was used to make candles, but candles made from tallow are pretty poor candles. They create a lot of smoke when they burn and they smell badly. For these reasons, paraffin rapidly became much more popular than tallow once it was developed.

However, paraffin is a residual of the petroleum refining process. That’s why people have been interested and coming up with a good alternative to paraffin. Soy candle wax is the result.

Soy beans are a good source of oil. However, soybean oil isn’t solid so it’s not suitable for making candles. But if you change the chemistry of an oil you can change its consistency.

Hydrogen atoms are part of oil molecules. How many hydrogen atoms an oil contains determines when it becomes a liquid or solid. If you add hydrogen to a liquid oil, it becomes solid.

Of course I’m not a chemist so I can’t really explain how it’s done, and the soybean oil is treated in different ways buy different manufactures, but the end result is a candle wax from a renewable resource.

Pure soy wax is soft. It works great in container candles, but isn’t very good for making tapers or pillar candles. Candle makers can compensate for that problem by blending soy wax with paraffin and hardening additives. If you do that, the resultant wax can be used for many more types of candles.

However, if you are going to use 100% soy wax you will probably get the best results if you use it to make container candles. You are probably familiar with container candles. These are candles in which the melted wax is poured into a nonflammable container with the wick positioned in the center. The candles never remove from the container, but rather is burned within it.

There’s a lot more to know about soy candle wax. One the best places I’ve found to get more information is:

Soy Candle Wax

And of course if you’re looking into soy candle wax you’ll probably be interested in how to make a candle with. You can learn about the insiders techniques at: How to Make Soy Candles.

Better yet, I suggest you take a look at the e-book Home Candle Making Made Easy.

That book covers all aspects of candle making from selecting what type of wax to use for specific situations, what additives to use and when, the best way to scent candles, and so much more… Getting the information this book will guarantee your success.

Candle making is a wonderful hobby. Get Home Candle Making Made Easy today and get started.

Tags: candle making, candle wax, Crafts, Hobbies, making candles, soy candle wax