Soy Wax
People are starting to catch on the the importance of burning soy wax candles. Why, you might ask? Well, for starters, soy wax is derived from soy beans making it a much more suitable resource. It is environmentally friendly and a renewable resource. After soybeans are harvested, they are cleaned, dehulled, cracked, and rolled into flakes. The oil is then extracted from the flakes and the hydrogenated vegetable oil turns to a solid at room temperature.
Paraffin Wax
On the other hand, most people currently own and are familiar with candles made from paraffin wax or at least a blend of paraffin wax sometimes called "soy wax blend." Paraffin wax is a byproduct of petroleum, coal, or oil shale. We are not joking when we say it is made by removing the waxy substance from crude oil, a non-renewable resource. You are pretty much burning good-smelling chemicals in your home. Paraffin wax is the most commonly used wax to make candles, largely because it is cheaper and more accessible than soy wax.
Do Candles Give You Headaches?
Now, we are no doctors and everyone reacts to things differently but from our experience, when meeting customers, we often hear people complain about being sensitive to different scents and being susceptible to headaches after a few hours of burning their favorite candle. Because of this, they have chosen to not buy or burn candles anymore (devastating, we know). When you burn paraffin candles headaches have been known to be more common due to the chemicals released into the air from the wax. The headache isn’t necessarily due to the scent of the candle but rather the chemicals that are being released into the air from the paraffin wax itself.
Key Benefits - Soy Wax
A few other key benefits of soy wax incase you haven't been convinced yet!
- Slower burn - Your candle will last a lot longer!
- Cleaner burn - Produces less black soot keeping dirt off your walls and out of your body
- Carries fragrance well so you will have the best and strongest smelling candle!
Thanks for taking the time to read more about the difference between candle waxes and why we have obviously chosen to use soy wax in all of our candles and products. If you have any questions about how we make our candles or want more specifics about the products we use, we are always happy to talk and explain our process.