If you’re going to make candles, obviously you’re going to need wax. But that isn’t as simple as many beginners think – there are a lot of choices to choose from.  While the following description is by no means complete, it does list the waxes candle makers use most frequently.

Paraffin Candle Wax

Paraffin is the workhorse of waxes. Most commercially made candles are made from paraffin wax.

Paraffin is a residual of the process of refining crude oil.

Different grades of paraffin candle wax are available. Most suppliers indicate which is their “general purpose” candle wax and that’s usually a good one for beginners to start with. The wax is widely available, relatively inexpensive, maintains its shape in tapers, mixes with dyes and fragrant oils well and burns relatively cleanly.

Soy Candle Wax

Soy candle wax is a recent invention. It was developed in the 1990’s as part of the search for a natural candle wax.  Soybean oil is liquid at room temperature. Hydrogenated soybean oil is fairly solid and burns well as a  candle wax. The main difficulty is that most formulations are fairly soft and don’t always work well in applications such as making tapers.

On the positive side, it is a great wax to use for container candles. It holds scent and fragrance well. It is extremely clean burning – significantly more so than paraffin.

Beeswax

Beeswax is a great, albeit expensive, candle making wax. Bees produce the wax to build honeycombs to hold the honey. When a beekeeper empties the honeycomb, the wax can be used to make candles.

Beeswax has a long burn time and burns even more cleanly than paraffin. It is a firmer wax than soy candle wax so you can use it for tapers. You can add scent to beeswax, but I prefer not to – it has a very subtle scent of its own.

Unfortunately, beeswax costs more than other waxes. It has always been so. In the past, beeswax was reserved for the very wealthy or for use in church. It’s more accessible these days, but it’s still somewhat of a splurge.

Where to Learn More

The waxes I’ve mentioned here are the ones most candle makers use most of the time. You’d do just fine if these were the only ones you knew about.

However it’s well worth at least becoming aware of some of the other choices available. One place to start is the page: Candle Making Wax. You’ll discover some interesting waxes I haven’t mentioned here, as well as some more details about paraffin and soy wax.

Of course wax alone does not a candle make. You can learn what equipment and supplies you’ll need at: Candle Making Equipment

I want to recommend an excellent site for you to find out everything you need to know to produce beautiful handcrafted candles: The Candle Making Connection. I’ve learned the hard way that you can save a lot of time and frustration if you visit sites like that and get some insider tips and advice before you start experimenting on your own.

Candle making is a very rewarding hobby and I hope this information helps you get started with.

 

 

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.