Soy Wax Candles

While the majority of candles are still made using paraffin, there’s been a very significant in the last few years as more and more people are turning to soy wax candles. There are several reasons for this that we’ll explore here. The bottom line is that soy candle wax is a welcome addition to a candle maker’s armamentarium. It certainly isn’t ideal for all candles but it has characteristics that make it ideal in some application.

Soy wax is derived from soybean oil. The oil is liquid at room temperature, so it might be useful in an oil lamp but doesn’t make a very good candle. However, if hydrogen is added to the oil chemically (hydrogenation) it becomes solid at room temperature. This is what soy wax is.

Much of the interest in soy wax has been because many people want to find a replacement for paraffin. Paraffin wax, as you may know, is a byproduct of refining petroleum. After the liquid hydrocarbons have been refined and removed from crude oil, a waxy residue remains. Paraffin comes from that residue. I think of it as the surface wax from plants that grew millions of years ago.

As you well know, there’s a big push to eliminate our use of oil. Some people prefer soy wax because it’s not derived from oil and it’s renewable. I like to think I’m as green as the next person, but I don’t really buy that argument.

I’m all for eliminating dependence on oil, but the fact is that right now and for the foreseeable future we will be using oil. That means paraffin will be produced as a waste product. Rather then let it go to waste, it makes sense to me to use it.

On the other hand, I would never suggest drilling for oil just to make paraffin.

My reason for preferring soy wax for some applications has to do with its burning characteristics. Soy wax burns very cleanly, certainly more cleanly that paraffin, and produces minimal soot. Also, it burns a little more slowly so a candle of the same size and wicking lasts longer.

One weakness of soy wax is that it is very soft. That means 100% soy wax isn’t appropriate for pillar or taper or other self supporting candles. You can blend it with other waxes if you want to use it in those applications, but soy wax on its own works best in container candles. That’s how you usually see it used.

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