2017 Soy Wax Industry Update Video

[c_gills]

https://www.candlescience.com/2017-soy-wax-industry-update

You all, did you see this video? I knew there were rumors, of sorts, but it have it stated by a supplier is reassuring.

 

I just had to stop all production for 3 weeks for testing of a new batch of GB444 and have been tearing my hair out. I used an entire case just for testing 😭, I'm not even going to think about the FO, containers, wicks...

 

Any ways, I contacted Candle Science and they are going to switch out my 7 cases of Lot 07/07/18 with a new one (they said they believe that Lot was problematic).

[jerry]

16 minutes ago, c_gills said:

Any ways, I contacted Candle Science and they are going to switch out my 7 cases of Lot 07/07/18 with a new one (they said they believe that Lot was problematic).

I have not see that video - lunch break viewing is now scheduled. It seems everyone on this board is certainly aware of the huge soy problems of 2017 - they have been so frustrating. That is great that CS is going to replace your 7 cases.

[TallTayl]

@c_gills  this whole soy issue has been total BS, hasn’t it? Not one more penny to GB/AkoSoy or their suppliers who tried to convince us the problem always US, not the wax. 

 

In the end, the soy industry shot itself in the foot. You can’t lie, ignore problems and expect customers to just follow along. It cost lots of us some incredible $ to find ways to once again make safe candles. People are turning to other, better waxes. Hopeful the trend continues. 

[bfroberts]

Kevin @ Candle Science is cute.
Just sayin'.

[c_gills]

3 hours ago, jerry said:

I have not see that video - lunch break viewing is now scheduled. It seems everyone on this board is certainly aware of the huge soy problems of 2017 - they have been so frustrating. That is great that CS is going to replace your 7 cases.

Yes, well, switch them out, and minus the one I already used in testing 🙄

[c_gills]

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

@c_gills  this whole soy issue has been total BS, hasn’t it? Not one more penny to GB/AkoSoy or their suppliers who tried to convince us the problem always US, not the wax. 

 

In the end, the soy industry shot itself in the foot. You can’t lie, ignore problems and expect customers to just follow along. It cost lots of us some incredible $ to find ways to once again make safe candles. People are turning to other, better waxes. Hopeful the trend continues. 

SUCH BS! I'm so frustrated. I wish I could switch to another type of veg wax, but haven't been able to find one that I can purchase from multiple suppliers. (**I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS!**) And don't want to bank my business on a wax that I can ONLY buy from one place.

 

I'm definitely going to continue to take notes and pictures and speak up about the major inconsistencies.

Edited September 25, 2018 by c_gills

[GoldieMN]

And yet when I tried to get help from a supplier about one of their fragrance oils I had previously had good luck with but now is a dud, they said they were not aware of any changes in 464.  They sell 464 and even had to send me two new cases after I contacted AAK about the problems.  Ticks me off as now I wonder if any of their fragrance oils have been reformulated.  When I inquired, they said "no, none of them."  Can I trust them???

GoldieMN

[c_gills]

2 minutes ago, GoldieMN said:

And yet when I tried to get help from a supplier about one of their fragrance oils I had previously had good luck with but now is a dud, they said they were not aware of any changes in 464.  They sell 464 and even had to send me two new cases after I contacted AAK about the problems.  Ticks me off as now I wonder if any of their fragrance oils have been reformulated.  When I inquired, they said "no, none of them."  Can I trust them???

GoldieMN

That's reallllly frustrating! If you don't trust a supplier, it might be best to go somewhere else!

 

But talk about a rabbit hole! "Is it the wax? Is it the wicks? But wait, it could the reformulated FOs! Or the weather...? Have I ever even made a well burning candle????" 😨

 

[GoldieMN]

Just now, c_gills said:

Have I ever even made a well burning candle????" 😨

 

OMG, that is sooooooooooooooo funny!!! 

GoldieMN

[Kerven]

I'm still convinced the explosion of particular GMO soybeans over the past few years had a part in it. The timing matched and, although the most obvious, AAK/GB wasn't the only soy wax having issues. The GMO beans have had the fatty acid profile of their oil altered, which would undoubtedly have an impact on the final hydrogenated product.

[strugglebrother]

Soy wax is just a very bad wax in general, period. It works only with a handful of fragrances, flakes, crusts, looks ugly over time and apparently these days you have to test EVERY batch.

 

In Sweden back in the 80’s and 90’s people got an oven inside there houses to burn environmental friendly wood pellets instead of using electricity. We all get it, electricity is stupid for heating up a house. It seemed great in the beginning and the government was pushing it as the new environmentally friendly way and funded it.

 

Well, the pellets need to come from somewhere so you have big trucks coming and delivering it to your house. Is that environmentally friendly, no? Loads of fuel used for no good.

 

Today nobody would invest in pellets for the house in Sweden, it wasn’t that great. Now you drill a hole and take heat for free from the ground instead. The technique is called Downhole Heat Exchanger. A lot of people took the punt on the technique from the 80s that was supposed to be “so good for the environment”. Selling a house today with pellet heating is considered almost bad for the selling price. You are stuck with it or have to rewire and install a completely new system.

 

It's not until you sit in a good car you realize how bad the one was that you have been driving for years. This applies to soy wax for me. And now soy is being harvested so much that palm is probably a much better choice for the environment.

 

Why does CS keep pushing soy wax and no coconut, apricot or palm wax? I have no idea, but it feels like they went to bed with AAK in some way as they continuously pushing bad products.

 

I spoke to the owner of another big wax-manufacturer here in Los Angeles who used to stock AAK wax. They received 444 and 464 wax that was completely soaking wet. And they went back and forth with AAK until they stopped working with them as the wax was too terrible and they didn’t want their customers to get angry.

 

So, I’m pretty sure CS got those moist and wet barrels of wax from AAK too but they didn’t care and sold it anyway. When people complained they said its nothing wrong with the wax it's your fault.

 

After the big storm, they were forced to make that video when everyone was already screwed over. Yes, you can get a refund but what about those hundreds of candles you made that you already stuck fragrance oils in and used up containers for, and all the work behind that, which you now can't sell at all. You can’t even give them to your neighbors as they won’t even scent a room or the flame will drown in the wax.

 

Rant over

[TallTayl]

1 hour ago, c_gills said:

SUCH BS! I'm so frustrated. I wish I could switch to another type of veg wax, but haven't been able to find one that I can purchase from multiple suppliers. (**I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS!**) And don't want to bank my business on a wax that I can ONLY buy from one place.

 

I'm definitely going to continue to take notes and pictures and speak up about the major inconsistencies.

 

You're singing my tune @c_gills

A few of us are doing the due diligence with coconut, and coconut blends, but like you I'm fearful of relying on ONE distributor. And coconut oil prices are unstable. Makes me want to ditch candles altogether. (not to mention the coconut waxes are a pig in a poke. none are 100% forthcoming about ingredients, and their formula changes without notice periodically.)

 

[GoldieMN]

1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

 

Makes me want to ditch candles altogether.

See???  That is how I feel sometimes!   HAHAHA!

GoldieMN

[TallTayl]

24 minutes ago, GoldieMN said:

See???  That is how I feel sometimes!   HAHAHA!

GoldieMN

 

cant happen, though, unless I change my entire business model.  So here we all sit, waiting for the next happy surprise from the wax manufacturers. 

[Kerven]

There are numerous plant oils for the industry to choose from. Apricot, coconut, canola/rapeseed, sweet almond, rice bran, sunflower, peanut, corn, hazelnut, linseed, olive, cottonseed... The problem is in their fatty acid profiles, since they're all different, and the particular process required by each to turn them into something useable. Availability and cost are also issues, and the soy lobbying arena can be brutal. I think it's worth the effort for the candle industry to look into them, but with so many people making candles, so many tons of wax needed, and the need for low prices... Well, soy is plentiful, it's cheap, and the process of hydrogenating it has been around for a while. It's the more economical choice for manufacturers. That is, until every candlemaker stops buying it. In the meantime, a lot of us are either falling back on old reliable (for the most part) waxes such as paraffin and palm, testing new non-soy waxes, or taking any wax we can get our hands on and blending until something works (it has to eventually, right?).

Edited September 25, 2018 by Kerven

[birdcharm]

Last winter, just for kicks, I made a tallow-paraffin container candle ... I've still got it, used it during a power outage a few weeks ago, not too bad!

[TallTayl]

Part of me just wants to reinvent scented oil lanterns 🤣 to heck oh the wax. 

[Laura C]

4 hours ago, TallTayl said:

 

...I'm fearful of relying on ONE distributor. And coconut oil prices are unstable. Makes me want to ditch candles altogether. (not to mention the coconut waxes are a pig in a poke. none are 100% forthcoming about ingredients, and their formula changes without notice periodically.)

Yep, you pretty much nailed it. I'm kinda thinking about giving up on making candles, life's too short. Waxes have been so unpredictable and I'm getting so tired of testing, I'm having night sweats and nightmares. LOL.

 

To make things worse, I thought it was all just me, alone in the twilight zone. I didn't realize, until just recently, that the candle wax industry was having issues and messing with the waxes until I heard you all talking about it on here. Obviously, I've not been hanging with the right crowd until now. LOL  

[Lighten Up]

23 hours ago, GoldieMN said:

And yet when I tried to get help from a supplier about one of their fragrance oils I had previously had good luck with but now is a dud, they said they were not aware of any changes in 464.  They sell 464 and even had to send me two new cases after I contacted AAK about the problems.  Ticks me off as now I wonder if any of their fragrance oils have been reformulated.  When I inquired, they said "no, none of them."  Can I trust them???

GoldieMN

I agree.

 

I have a hard time trusting some of my suppliers because I know for certain they have had complaints/concerns- because I have raised them!! Of course, they don't remember talking to me at all, so the issue must not exist. So, I take everything with grain of salt and test, test, test.

 

I no longer find the joy in candle making, and would have walked away from it last year if I could have. This year is not so bad... so far. My best friend died in Aug and the candles are a good distraction.

[GoldieMN]

6 minutes ago, Lighten Up said:

I agree.

 

I have a hard time trusting some of my suppliers because I know for certain they have had complaints/concerns- because I have raised them!! Of course, they don't remember talking to me at all, so the issue must not exist. So, I take everything with grain of salt and test, test, test.

 

I no longer find the joy in candle making, and would have walked away from it last year if I could have. This year is not so bad... so far. My best friend died in Aug and the candles are a good distraction.

I had a young relative die a month ago; and today, my SILs youngest sister is hours away from dying.  She was my flowergirl years ago.  Maybe all of that has affected my desire to pour.  However, I WILL try again with the ECOs I ordered which are already in the mail!  That may be all I need--good throwing candles--to get my interest going again.

 

On a positive note, the aroma bead ornaments sold really well at my occasional sale.  No wick needed! hahahaha

 

Thanks for your sharing thoughts. 

GoldieMN

[Lighten Up]

22 minutes ago, GoldieMN said:

I had a young relative die a month ago; and today, my SILs youngest sister is hours away from dying.  She was my flowergirl years ago.  Maybe all of that has affected my desire to pour.  However, I WILL try again with the ECOs I ordered which are already in the mail!  That may be all I need--good throwing candles--to get my interest going again.

 

On a positive note, the aroma bead ornaments sold really well at my occasional sale.  No wick needed! hahahaha

 

Thanks for your sharing thoughts. 

GoldieMN

Wow, Goldie, that is really sad. I'm so sorry for your losses. It's hard to get up in the morning and pretend it's all OK. Thankfully, I have many demands that require my participation, the candles being one, lol... a blessing or a curse?

[GoldieMN]

33 minutes ago, Lighten Up said:

Wow, Goldie, that is really sad. I'm so sorry for your losses. It's hard to get up in the morning and pretend it's all OK. Thankfully, I have many demands that require my participation, the candles being one, lol... a blessing or a curse?

HAHAHA, yes a blessing or a curse. . .  You are funny!

GoldieMN