Researching

[mechanicgirl]

Hello everyone I just joined the site for the purpose of I am doing a TON of research at the moment.
I have read so many stories about paraffin, other vegetable waxes, beeswax, and of course soy. I've read the goods and the bad a little bit and decided I plan to break each wax down by the pros and cons and debunk/find supporting evidence of what's been claimed and what chemicals are in candles or not in candles. I will be picking on everything for my research so please don't take it personally.

 

First of course, I'm researching Paraffin.... next will be soy... these are the ONLY two I'm focusing right now. The wax themselves. I thought maybe I could get some help from everyone here...

1. Has anyone seen these research claims about the magical number of 11 chemicals given off by paraffin when it's burned? I'm trying to find where this assumption came from.
2. Has anyone seen and where to find a video of how the WHOLE process of paraffin wax- to go from crude oil to our food and candles?

 Same questions regarding soy wax
1. If this wax is so renewable I feel like there is a way to make the wax on your own? or see how it's processed?  However, I have not found or seen a video on how to do this.....

I wanna see the process of how each wax is made and what goes into it and actual proof of where these chemicals are coming from..... yet I can't find any supporting evidence or research papers at all....

 

 

Thank you for your help.

[Scented]

Type in soy vs. paraffin or vice versa I think it is on this website. If the search is working, it should take you to the arguments about the two waxes. While that is not what you're looking for there are links out the wazoo that could help you with some of the arguments out there etc. 

 

As for how paraffin typically comes about, it's a byproduct of oil refineries if I'm not mistaken, but probably am. It's sold off and whatever companies add to it to make different waxes is beyond me. Maybe look for the chemical make up of wax? You might want to try to contact igi to see how they might be able to help you more however I don't know that a lot of what you are looking for may be out there. I will go in search of, but it's probably on an old hard drive that didn't completely corrupt, some additional information I had. 

I'm a paraffin candlemaker and had to survive with the truth about waxes when the newer ones hit the market. However since my monitor on my old computer blew this could take a bit to find. 

 

How I'd love to helpful to you. Sorry I am not. 

 

I will tell you that the founder of this board is a wealth of knowledge. His name is Alan. He might be reachable at Peak Candle Supplies. He might look through posts and see this and respond. It's hard to say, but if you get a chance and if he has time, I think he'd try to answer some of your questions. 

 

 

[grama]

I also am a paraffin maker and didn't know all the hype soy makers came up with about paraffin.  On the other hand if you know anything about farming you can also guess chemicals used in the process of making soy.  I have been making candles since 2003 and I am still living. haha  You can go to the National Candle Association and read about waxes and like Scented said just do a search on this board.  

[Alan]

Welcome to the boards, mechanicgirl.

 

Paraffin was basically a waste product at one time, a byproduct resulting from of our growing use of petroleum. If you would like to learn more about its history in candle making, google a bit on William Proctor. He was a candle maker and co-founder of what we now call Proctor & Gamble. Maybe you've heard of the company? His partner was a soap maker, James Gamble.

 

There is a lot of interesting history around this subject.  For instance, think about how much artificial light we use to extend the length of our days. A long time ago, when the sun went down, that was pretty much it for the day. Candles allowed productivity to continue into the night. Much of Ben Franklin's work that shaped our country, was done by candle light. His father was a candle maker. What if his father wasn't a candle maker? Anyway, paraffin was a cheap alternative to more expensive tallow-based candles and expensive spermaceti candles. Today we have electricity to extend our days, for better or for worse.

 

Imagine what life would be like if we didn't have light after the sun went down.  For instance, people are believed to have sleep in two separate shifts during the night. They would wake up about half way through, and stay up for a few hours to do whatever in the dark, and then go back to sleep.

 

I know you were looking for a discussion of where paraffin comes from. I hope I have stimulated your interest in finding out more. By researching a little about William Proctor, I think you'll get a sense for why and how it became useful.

 

Soy wax is basically a fully hydrogenated form of vegetable oil. The more fully hydrogenated a vegetable oil is, the more solid it tends to be at room temperature. Naturally occurring soybean oil is a liquid at room temperature. So to figure out how soy wax is made, you first have to start with an understanding of hydrocarbons and some general understanding of the physical properties of hydrocarbons. Soybean oil is naturally occurring. Soy plants capture the energy of the sun and convert it to chemical energy (photosynthesis). Nature likes to store extra energy as fats, or lipids. Soybean oil is a lipid, full of stored energy. It's an unsaturated fat, at least in its natural state. Saturated fats are generally harder at room temperature. Think lard. To make soybean oil behave like lard, or saturated fats, it is synthetically hydrogenated. Soybean oil can be hydrogenated to varying degrees. Soy wax is a very hydrogenated form of soybean oil. Lesser hydrogenated forms would include Crisco, margarine and the like. The least hydrogenated form would be something like the plain old vegetable oil that we use for cooking.

 

To make your own soy wax, you would start by extracting the vegetable oil from soy crops. To find out more about that, I would start with a google search of "vegetable oil extraction methods."  Some vegetable oils are extracted with solvents, and others are mechanically pressed from the plant material, such as olive oil. Once you have extracted the oil from the plant material, you would then want to turn the oil into a waxy substance by hydrogenating it. Google "hydrogenation of vegetable oils" for more on this process. There are a few different ways to do it.

 

I hope this gives you some useful info to start your exploration into the origins of these waxes.

[Guest OldGlory]

Google the Okometric Study. The results tell you a lot about the soot from candles in general, and unscented candles vs scented candles in particular.