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Candle Making Wax
Fortunately for candle making enthusiasts, high quality candle making wax comes in a wide variety and is commercially available both at local craft stores and for retail online. Surely there’s a wax to suit any candle maker’s preference.
Paraffin wax
The most commonly used candle wax is paraffin, a petroleum-based wax. Not only is paraffin widely available, it’s inexpensive, versatile, and generally easy to work with. In recent years, however, the increased health- and ecological-consciousness of many consumers has brought the health- and eco-friendliness of paraffin up for heated debate. Note that the National Candle Association has advised that no type of candle wax produces a completely soot-free candle nor is essentially more of a health hazard than any other type of wax. Whatever the case may be, it’s pretty certain that paraffin will continue to be widely used for candle making as a hobby, and will continue to be the wax that most manufactured candles are made of.
Soy wax and Palm wax
One thing for sure is that if you simply enjoy variety, there are plenty of candle waxes to choose from. For example, there are soy wax and palm wax, both of which are ultimately derived from plants.
Soy is relatively new to candle making, having been introduced as a candle wax in the early 1990s. One of the benefits of soy wax is that it has a longer burning time than paraffin. Pure soy wax is fairly soft and although it’s ideal for making container candles, if you want to use soy wax for other types of candles, you’ll probably want to use a soy blend wax (often a mix of soy and paraffin in fact). Although palm wax is also often blended with different waxes, unlike soy wax, pure palm wax is a strong enough wax to use for making freestanding pillar candles.
Beeswax
In addition to petroleum-based and plant-based waxes, there is an animal-based wax – Beeswax.
One feature that many people find most appealing about beeswax is its naturally sweet, honey-like scent. In addition, beeswax offers a particular sense of history in that it’s been used to make candles for thousands of years. Beeswax, however, is among the most expensive choices of candle wax, so be sure to shop around for a good deal. Fortunately, beeswax candles have a long burning time which helps offset their expense.
Gel wax
Why stop at petroleum-based, plant-based, or animal-based wax? How about a synthetic wax that technically isn’t even a wax?
That’s right, gel wax, a newer, synthetic, and unique product has become increasingly popular in candle making. But it’s not really even a wax – it’s produced from combining mineral oil and polymer resin. Gel wax melts and burns at a much higher temperature than other waxes, so you definitely want to be safety conscious when working with it. But perhaps the most obvious and appealing feature of gel wax is its transparency which allows candle makers the creativity of embedding non-flammable objects as a way of decorating the candle.
Whichever wax you choose to work with, be sure to melt it with care – slowly and only to the individual wax’s recommended melting point. Each type of candle wax has a flash point (higher than the melting point) at which the wax can ignite. Be sure to stay attentive when working with your wax and to use a candle making or candy making thermometer to continually monitor the temperature of the wax while you work.