Ecologically, candle making soy wax is great, as it's a natural wax and burns cleaner than paraffin wax candles. The appeal of them is growing, even though soy wax is a little more costly than paraffin wax.
Soy wax is vegetable in nature and is derived from soybeans; oil is separated from soybean flakes and then hydrogenated.
The United States yield most of the world's soybeans and are mostly grown in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois. All candles emit soot when burned but it is recognised that soy candles when lit burn cleaner than paraffin wax candles, making a white, cleaner soot.
Soy candles are prepared and made fundamentally the same method as paraffin wax candles, its worth pointing out though that caution should be taken in not allowing melting soy wax to reach a temperature greater than 180 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature the soy wax may burn, giving the wax an unappealing, yellowish appearance. After the wax has melted your preferred coloring dye can be added and after removing from the heat the fragrance can be added. The best results can be achieved by using about 6% fragrance by weight, (1 oz of fragrance to 1 lb of wax). The scent could bleed throughout the candle if its concentration in the candle is too high. When the temperature of the soy wax has fallen to about 125 degrees Fahrenheit the wax can then be poured into the mold and allowed to cool. Be sure not to let the temperature of the wax decrease to low before pouring or try to cool the wax with water as unfortunately there is a chance that the candle may crack.
It must be pointed out that it is really important that you must always melt wax, including soy wax, on your stove using a double boiler. On no account melt any wax on or in anything that does not comprise some type of temperature control because wax does possess a flash point and will burst into flames abruptly once it reaches that point. Depending on the wax the flash point can be between 290 - 380 degrees.
Since soy wax is fairly soft it's not suitable to make certain types of candle such as pillar of taper candles but soy wax is good for making floating candles. Soy wax is great when used for making container candles because of its low melting point and soft texture. Glass votive holders and mason jars are containers you could start with.
Like beeswax and palm oil candles, soy candles are eco-friendly and created from a renewable resource. These criteria should be taken into consideration when determining which kind of candle you want to make.
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