Soy Candles

Soy candles are very popular these days.  They are clean-burning, hold a fragrance well and come in many colors, shapes and sizes.

Let's take a closer look at scented soy candles; how they are made, advantages/disadvantages, shapes and your options for buying.

How They are Made

As you probably know, these candles are made from the humble soybean.  It's produced by hydrogenating the soybean oil, to that it remains stiff at room temperature.

Soy wax is relatively recent on the market, being introduced in 1993.  Its creator, Michael Richards, was looking for a cheaper alternative to the popular natural wax of the day - beeswax.

Mr. Richards succeeded, and today soy candles are extremely popular.

Advantages

The biggest advantage is scent!  They are somtimes called triple-scented because of the amount of fragrance they can hold -- far more than paraffin or beeswax, and virtually almost as much as natural candles.

Soy candles have a low melting point, but a long burn time with the proper wick.  Also, the wax itself is sootless, and the only soot produced is from the wick and fragrance itself (a very small amount).

Soy wax also has a very easy cleanup, should you spill some -- all it takes is soap and water!

Disadvantages

Soy's low melting point is also a disadvantage; pillar and especially taper shapes can deform in the burning process, or even in the hot sun. However, soy wax blends can allow for soy pillar candles.

Although rare, if you are extremely sensitive to soy products the burning wax may effect you.  You'd have to be extremely sensitive, though, for it to have an effect.

Fragranced Jar Candles, Pillars, Votives

As mentioned in the disadvantages section, tapers and pillars are not the best shapes.  If you indeed want to burn a pillar, choose a short wide one, and make sure the base you place it on has some depth to catch the drips.

Your other option is to choose a pillar made with a mixture with another type of wax -- paraffin is a common option.

Fragranced jar candles, as well as votives, are better choices for burning soy waxes.  The containers help keep the melted wax where it needs to be -- close to the wick.  Not running down the side.

Where to Buy

As with all candles, you can find soy just about anywhere -- malls, candle shops and online.  Be an informed consumer, though, with the following thoughts:

A candle can be labled soy but also have other ingredients.  For example, a candle can be mostly paraffin with perhaps 20% and it can still be labeled as soy wax.  If you want 100%, look for that on the label.

Look at the label for the candle burning suggestions, especially on fragranced jar candles.  You can burn soy longer, on average, than candles made with paraffin blended in. But you may be surprised at some of the restrictions you might see.

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Soy Candle Trivia

Who was the first seller to offer soy candles for purchase to the general public? 

It was The Body Shop.  They started offering natural wax candles in early 1995, and then soy later that year.

The original natural wax candles contained beeswax, which was more expensive than soy.