Wax Facts
If you want to know a little background on candle waxes, we suggest you read our blog post here.
The main component of a candle is wax so it is helpful to know a little about waxes.
First of all, what is a wax?
Waxes are developed from oils and fats or other wax-like materials derived from plants, animals, insects and minerals.
Why do we use wax in candles?
Candles require a safe fuel source in order to burn – producing light in the first instance. Wax acts as a safe fuel for the candle. Wax substances are perfect materials for candles as they maintain shape and form when not lit, become readily mobile at elevated temperatures providing adequate fuel to function and, when contained in a vessel (container candles), they solidify again after use making for a clean, practical and re-useable product.
Most people use scented candles now as an indulgence. Wax is a good carrier for fragrance oils, which require evaporation in order to scent a space (and heat is the perfect way to evaporate aroma compounds into the air).
What is the best candle wax?
It is widely accepted that there is no best wax in candle making – it’s really a case of application and use. There are more responsibly sourced waxes, which are of course inherently better for the planet, but in terms of performance and functionality, it depends on the application - what you want the candle to do, how it needs to function and the inherent properties it must possess to do so.
It is widely accepted that a wax material must possess these key characteristics…
A wax:-
- will remain solid at room temperature
- will liquefy at higher temperatures
- structure consists primarily of hydrocarbons
- is insoluble in water
- repels water
- possesses low odour
- has low toxicity and reactivity
These characteristics make waxes an ideal component in a wide range of products and applications from the industrial (adhesives, inks and coatings) to the particle (packaging, casting, pencils & crayons food/perishable goods preservation) to lifestyle - cosmetics and, of course, candles (scented or otherwise).
Regardless of the origin of the wax (read on to find out more on this) the one main constant is that all waxes found in candles are primarily hydrocarbons and their burning qualities are thus very similar (all burn with yellowish flames due to their carbon content) so the decision to use one wax over another usually comes down to ethics, cost, sustainability and performance. If a wax is of high quality, which waxes used in candle making are, they will burn safely, cleanly and in a similar manner, regardless of their origins.
Where does one find wax?
Using waxes as a material for candle production has always been a question of availability – that is much the same for all raw materials used in any process. How easy and how efficiently the raw material can be processed is also a major question for which waxes can or will be used – that too is much the same for all raw materials used in a process.
Of course, most processes and products can use rare raw materials - those that are scarce, hard to source and difficult to process or yield low useable content for use in the intended finished product - but those materials are always more expensive. Perfumers know this all too well, many of the rare raw materials are those that are not as abundant, are difficult to cultivate and harvest or are those that are difficult to extract from, synthesise or ultimately yield low useable aromatic material – the result is low supply at high cost.
A great analogy is always saffron. Most people know how costly premium grade saffron is. The high cost of saffron is due to its scarcity, its dependence of specific growing conditions, how labour intensive it is to harvest and the fact that each plant yields low useable content. All of these factors make saffron very, very, very expensive.
In the last century there have been greater innovations in the wax industry and the processing of all waxes has become industrialised and made more efficient, cleaner and for the most part ethical and sustainable to a point. One of the more recent trends in candle making is for plant-based waxes (not accounting for rapeseed which has a long history), namely palm and soy waxes derived from the respective oils via a hydrogenation process.
Rapeseed wax has been around for a very long time and depending on where it is sourced from, Rapeseed is a very sustainable source of oil and wax. Here in Europe (where HEROWN Rapeseed oil/ wax is sourced) there are many laws, regulations and directives that farmers must abide by in order to supply Rapeseed products, and there are strict laws governing working conditions and pay, too. Rapeseed from other regions may or may not be as sustainable, ecologically sound or as ethical as the supply from Europe – but that’s a whole other topic!
In candle making, Rapeseed wax does require blending with other waxes. For a long time the choice has been paraffin, palm or soy.
In recent years, coconut wax has entered the candle making industry. Most coconut wax is sourced from the Philippines or Dominican Republic. The economies of these countries are heavily dependent on coconut and as such the industry and supply chain is closely governed. Coconut wax is near perfect for candle making given its sustainability, desirable burning qualities and scent performance. Coconut wax does require additional waxes be added to make it totally useable, much like rapeseed wax.
Broadly speaking, Rapeseed wax requires softening and Coconut wax hardening… so why not blend these two highly sustainable waxes to produce a useable end product? Our wax supplier and producer did just that (hooray!) but we’ll talk about that more later.
Paraffin has been the most used wax over the last century and it still is. To put it bluntly, paraffin wax is the best performing wax for scented candles overall. However, we are all aware that paraffin is a by-product of petroleum and thus cannot boast sustainable sourcing credentials. Paraffin wax is a natural product and it is as safe to use in candles as any plant-based wax. We are yet to see verifiable findings to support the claim that paraffin wax when used in candles is dangerous. The only downside to using paraffin is its unsustainable sourcing. Furthermore, in our opinion, some fragrance formulations intended for use in candles benefit from plant waxes that inherently soften the aroma where others benefit paraffin for boosting the presence of the aroma, but we won’t bore you with the mechanics!
Alternative wax sources are always being researched. One of the most exciting areas is synthetic waxes. These have been around for a number of decades but the performance is pretty mixed, so very few have adopted synthetic waxes over other sources. As innovation in this area progresses and more viable synthetic wax materials are produced, we will see a greater offer of synthesised waxes boasting the greatest environmental and sustainability credentials of all wax options. For now, we will keep abreast of the developments but are yet to find a suitable synthesised wax we are happy with in terms of overall performance.
At the time of writing, no wax currently used in candle making has proven to be harmful or toxic to humans – the only variables are sustainability of supply and the desired effect one wishes to achieve.
Wax or oil?
Plant waxes begin life as oils and are then processed into their respective waxes. Why? Waxes are required to remain solid at room temperature where oils will remain liquid. Waxes will become liquid at elevated temperatures and re-solidify as the temperature they are subjected to falls back to ambient levels. To produce waxes, oils are processed so as to remain solid at or around room temperature via hydrogenation. Hydrogenation turns the unsaturated fats in the (liquid) oil into a solid fat (wax). This process naturally hardens the material and it also increases the melting point too.
The process is slightly different for mineral waxes. Sure, mineral waxes are all-natural but they are by-products of petroleum processing. During the de-waxing of light lubricants process, unrefined waxes are produced. In short, mineral wax used in candles require the removal of oils via a process of crystallisation – separating the oil from the useable wax basically. This wax is then further processed to remove impurities, odour and colour before being used in candles. The resulting wax is a highly refined, high quality wax perfect for use in candles.
Waxes used in candle making are of a high quality and will be refined to remove impurities and aroma – creating a neutral raw material perfect for use in candle making. Our Coconut and Rapeseed wax is a blend of the two oils, which have been processed to remain solid at room temperature but melt easily at an elevated temperature.
Why blend?
Well, Coconut wax from coconut oil, for example, is still susceptible to melting at room temperature as in a wider sense the melt point is still a little on the low side. As such, you will find coconut wax is blended with other waxes, normally other plant based waxes of higher melt point such as Soy, Palm or Rapeseed. Ours is blended with the most sustainable option – Rapeseed. By adding higher melt point waxes to the coconut, the average melt point is higher and ta-da, we have a useable Coconut-blend wax.
Why not just Rapeseed?
Coconut has overall better performance than rapeseed wax (burning characteristic, scent performance etc.) but is softer with a lower melt point and as mentioned, requires the melt point being increased by the addition of other waxes. Rapeseed requires softening and has a relatively high melt point. The supply chain for both waxes is ethical and the production methods sustainable so; both waxes are co-dependant and create a wax that is greater (or at least useable) than the sum of its parts. As coconut requires hardening and Rapeseed softening and as both supplies are the most sustainable plant origin waxes, it makes perfect sense to blend these waxes.
We have used our raw material suppliers for nearly a decade in most cases. Our Coconut and Rapeseed blend wax is supplied by a Scottish company who, alongside the manufacturer have worked to produce an astonishing wax containing only Coconut and Rapeseed – nothing else!
If you have any further questions regarding candle wax – feel free to email us at
hello@herownstore.com