You've heard soy wax candles are the best option for lighting up your home or office with an amazing fragrance, but how much do you know about soy wax candles? Soy candles have grown in popularity over the years as the industry has sought out a more environmentally sustainable and safer option over the traditional paraffin wax candle that once dominated candle manufacturing.
While you’ve made a good choice in selecting soy candles, keep reading to learn more about soy candles.
What is soy wax?
The soy wax in your candles is a vegetable wax made from the oil of soybeans. Most soybeans grown in the United States are grown in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. Once the soybeans are harvested, they are cleaned, cracked and de-hulled. De-hulling is a process when you dry the soybean, break it through a roller mill and run it through an aspirator. Then it is rolled into flakes.
Finally, the oil is extracted from the flakes and hydrogenated. During hydrogenation some of the fatty acids go from unsaturated to saturated to raise the oil's melting point, so it's solid at room temperature.
How is soy wax used in candles?
Soy wax tends to come in three forms.
100% soy wax: This is the preferred type of wax for your candles because it only contains soy wax.
Soy and oil mix: Some companies will add natural oils to their wax, such as coconut oil.
Soy and paraffin mix: You want to avoid soy candles mixed with paraffin wax. Paraffin is not a clean-burning wax and has many questionable attributes, so mixing it with clean-burning soy wax cancels out many of the benefits of using soy. Some candle companies do this to cut their manufacturing costs, but the savings isn't worth it.
Also, keep in mind that you want to avoid candles that mention they’re a wax blend but won't state the type of waxes included in the mixture.
What are the benefits of soy wax?
There's a reason why soy wax is being touted as the best candle option. Purchasing soy wax candles comes with a slew of benefits.
It's environmentally sound
If using sustainably sourced products is one of your values, you'll gravitate towards soy wax. Unlike paraffin wax, which is commonly derived from petroleum and cole oils, soybeans are a renewable resource. As long as farmers continue to grow soybeans, there's no limit to how much can be produced.
Besides being sustainable, soy wax is eco-friendly and carbon-neutral, meaning it leads to net-zero carbon dioxide emissions.
It burns slowly
Soy candles also naturally burn slower than other types of wax, so they will last longer. That means every soy candle you purchase is a better investment since you'll be able to enjoy it longer than others.
It produces a clean burn
Soy candles are also clean-burning candles. Overall, as long as your soy wax candles are made of 100% soy, use 100% cotton wicks, and are scented with quality pure essential oils or natural fragrance oils, they'll burn with little or no toxins from smoke.
Also, it's been found that soybeans produce less soot than paraffin wax without emitting toxic chemicals like benzene and toluene.
Toluene can lead to irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headache, dizziness, and more when exposed without taking proper safety precautions, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Benzene is a similar irritant.
It's a vegan product
Soy isn't derived from a living animal, so it's an entirely vegan product. This is important because some looking for a safe candle option might turn to beeswax, but beeswax isn’t vegan. As more people turn to beeswax, the factory farming of beeswax is becoming more common, which isn’t good for bees or the environment. Soy gives you a healthier and sustainable wax while also being vegan.
It's easier to clean up
While this likely won’t happen often, you might find yourself in a position when you need to clean wax that was spilled from your candle. Soy wax is easy to clean up with just soap and hot water, so you don't have to worry about extensive damage due to a small wax spill.
Why do soy wax candles cost more?
When you purchase soy wax candles, you pay more for the quality wax in the candle and the additional benefits. This is similar to why organic fruit might cost more than non-organic fruit at the grocery store or why sustainably sourced bed linen might cost more than non sustainable bed linen.
There's an inherent value in burning candles that don't release toxic chemicals and are environmentally sound. Add to the fact that they're slow burning and the other benefits, and there's no question why soy wax candles would cost more than the traditional lower quality and more toxic candles on the market.
What else should I consider when buying a soy wax candle?
Beyond being made of 100% soy wax, you want to ensure that your soy candles meet other specifications so you can get the best quality candle possible.
100% Cotton Wicks: You want to make sure the candle wicks you burn are made of 100% cotton with no metal inside. If the wick has any metal, it can reduce the candle burn quality by releasing toxins.
No Color: While colored candles might look nice, the pigments used to produce various colors tend to contain toxic ingredients. These toxins are then released into the air when they burn, which isn’t good for your health.
Natural Scent: An additional point to consider is the type of scent added to your soy wax candle. Your candle should be made of quality essential oils or natural fragrance oils that don’t contain toxins.
Where can I buy quality soy wax candles?
There are many soy wax candle companies available, but at NAVABELLA, we are committed to providing a wide selection of soy wax candles made with high-quality ingredients to reduce toxic emissions while giving you the fragrance you love.
We only make soy candles, so we have perfected our craft over the years.
You can shop easy knowing our candles are:
Handcrafted in micro-batches
PETA-certified vegan and cruelty-free
Made of 100% all-natural soy wax
Made with premium fragrance and essential oils
Non-toxic
Free of phthalates, paraffin, and dye
Made with 100% all-natural, lead-free cotton wicks
Shop our mini candle and tealight sets, personalized candles, or tealight candle collections to purchase your next quality soy wax candle.