glily

Very interesting! Thanks for the clarity I suspect that truly "organic" soy wax is hard to come by (and expensive - ?), if so much is GMO.

I was under the impression that it's just not possible for soy wax to be organic -- you can start with organic soybeans, but the chemical process that extracts the oil and then hydrogenates it makes it no longer organic.

I'm putting together a mini-brochure with good, non-deceptive info about soy wax candles. But I'm at a loss for how to phrase the "ingredients" of my candles. I'll be using GB415 with beeswax, so the wax is 100% soy, but it's only 97ish% of the candle. If I say, "100% soy wax candle with a touch of beeswax," is that deceptive labeling? Or might there be a better/clearer way to say it? I'm probably overthinking it. Can you hear the sound of my head exploding? I'm sitting here, thinking about this, when people are out there selling "organic" candles ... Argh.

Indeed, this has been really helpful to me. I'd received a soy candle as a gift and was intrigued by it -- that's sort of how this all started for me. I loved the creamy appearance of the wax and the "frost" that appeared on its top. I'm going to give soy wax a try for my first candles, but I'm definitely not ruling out other waxes. I'd like to experiment a bit (as my hobby-budget allows, lol) and see what's the most fun to work with and which I like best. Thanks again for your input!

Thanks for the reply, it did help! After a lot of reading and researching, it really sounds like soy and paraffin are more similar than they are different. If making candles ever does become more than a hobby for me, I'll be certain that I'm not one of the soy-misinformation-spreaders. It doesn't sound, to me at least, like soy is any better than paraffin -- it sounds more like they're both good for different reasons. I'm leaning toward the soy wax, at least for my first couple of batches to give as gifts. But the paraffin-soy blends sound intriguing, too! Thanks again. I'd love to hear what others have to add!

After a lot of research, I'm really interested in making candles as a hobby. It looks like fun, and they'd be great to give as gifts or sell at the farmer's market. I've already found out that soy wax isn't as natural as it claims to be and that paraffin isn't the villain it's made out to be. So, I'm NOT asking which wax is better, safer, or healthier. I'd like some concrete information about *real* differences between soy and paraffin, like burn temp and burn time, appearance, and scent throw. Which wax will give a consistently longer burn time? Does soy really "burn" cooler than paraffin? When you look at a soy candle and a paraffin candle, what visible differences will you see? Soy candles can "frost," but do they take color differently than a paraffin candle? When you handle them, do they *feel* different? How well does each type of wax take fragrance? Do you have to add anything to soy or paraffin wax to get a better scent throw? Thanks to any who can give me some info! In all my searching, these are things I haven't had much luck finding out about -- it seems like I need to hear from some folks with experience :smiley2: