Natural soy candles - what does this mean?

[juniebird]

Hello,

I am new to this site and this is my first post. I am still in the product research phase but I am getting so confused! Are the 100% soy waxes really 100% soy and are they really natural? As the oil is being extracted from the bean are there not chemicals involved in this process. What about pesticides? Then there are the soy blends - some companies advertise soy with botanical oils or soy with other natural waxes. What does this mean, and how do you know what you are really getting. I have also come across several companies advertising soy "Oil" candles vs soy "wax" candles. They say that this candle is 100% wax free. What type of a product would they be using for this?

Also what about the fragrence oils? Is there really such a thing as a "natural" fragrence oil? What does it really mean when they are advertised as pure or premium? I have read that many FO are petro based. Should I just be looking for scents that have a soybean oil base? Is there a company that you could reccommend as having the most realistic scents that are as "natural" as possible?

I guess that I would have to ask the same questions for the dyes. I know that to be as pure as possible, I would have to have a soy wax candle with no scent or dyes, but that is just boring. What dyes would you folks consider to be the safest to use from a health standpoint? Which dyes would you stay away from?

What is the difference between using 100% cotton wicks vs 100% hemp wicks?

My ultimate goal would be to come up with an excellent quality candle that was as "healthy" as possible. I'm just afraid of jumping on this "natural" soy candle bandwagon if there is really no such animal. Sorry for all of the questions but it's just difficult to know what to believe. Thanks in advance

for all of your imput.

[Crafty1_AJ]

Also what about the fragrence oils? Is there really such a thing as a "natural" fragrence oil?

Nope. Not taking about *essential* oils, mind you. But strawberry, lilac, and peanut butter fragrance oils are not found in nature.

[Vicky_CO]

Boy you have a lot of question LOL you have been storing them up for a while.

Are the 100% soy waxes really 100% soy and are they really natural? Yes and No yes the are from soy bean and 100% natural as far as that is concerned but the processing of them is not.

What about pesticides? organic soy oil is never used in the wax to expensive. organic soy which is grown with out pesticides you will only find in the food market.

Then there are the soy blends - some companies advertise soy with botanical oils or soy with other natural waxes. What does this mean, and how do you know what you are really getting.

Most companies are never going to tell you their process and what is really added we have to trust in what they do tell us if the say its 100% soy then it is, if the add other botanical most likely the are adding thing like cotton seed. If the say the are adding other natural wax is will be along the line of palm waxes.

I have also come across several companies advertising soy "Oil" candles vs soy "wax" candles. They say that this candle is 100% wax free. What type of a product would they be using for this?

It like any other oil candle you are just using soy oil I can make an oil candle using cooking oil. it really not a candle more of a lantern,

Also what about the fragrance oils? Is there really such a thing as a "natural" fragrance oil?

No but you can use EO essential oils in the purest form I would not run to your local heath food store and by and EO and put in in candles.

What does it really mean when they are advertised as pure or premium?

they are saying that it has not been cut with any thing.

I have read that many FO are petro based. Should I just be looking for scents that have a soybean oil base?

They are not based it is the carrier oil most carrier oils are veggie based.

Is there a company that you could reccommend as having the most realistic scents that are as "natural" as possible?

This one is trial and error what smells natural to one person may smell fake to another. You are never going to find a natural FO they are all chemically created if you want natural go with EOs

I guess that I would have to ask the same questions for the dyes. I know that to be as pure as possible, I would have to have a soy wax candle with no scent or dyes, but that is just boring. What dyes would you folks consider to be the safest to use from a health standpoint? Which dyes would you stay away from?

Truthfully you never use enough dye to cause any health concerns.

Dyes like FO are chemically created natural dyes will not work in wax they don't mix.

What is the difference between using 100% cotton wicks vs 100% hemp wicks?

Well cotton come from a cotton plant and hemp from a hemp plant by the way you can also make clothes out of both of those things not the wicks but the fibers from both.

My ultimate goal would be to come up with an excellent quality candle that was as "healthy" as possible. I'm just afraid of jumping on this "natural" soy candle bandwagon if there is really no such animal. Sorry for all of the questions but it's just difficult to know what to believe.

Everyone of us had that goal at one time till we understood that it was not really possible and unrealistic. If you truly want to be heath conscious don't burn candles at all.

[islandgirl]

Wow Vicky!!!

That should be posted as a stickey...

You really summed it all up!! NICE!!!

[topofmurrayhill]

Vicky did a great job answering your questions but here is my two cents on a few subjects.

What is the difference between using 100% cotton wicks vs 100% hemp wicks?

Hemp wicks are made from a plant, certain parts of which can get you high, whereas no part of a cotton plant can get you high. This makes hemp wicks inherently cooler in my book, but I don't really know if they work well because I've never tried them. However I have tried other parts of the hemp plant and that worked well.

My ultimate goal would be to come up with an excellent quality candle that was as "healthy" as possible.

Soy candles have more tendency to get sick than other candles. Hence soy is not a good choice if you want to have the healthiest candles possible.

[Henryk]

You may be interested in the following discussions:

http://www.candletech.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=veggiewax;action=display;num=1081372375;start=1

http://www.candletech.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=veggiewax;action=display;num=1113124494;start=6

[geekrunner]

Hemp wicks are made from a plant, certain parts of which can get you high, whereas no part of a cotton plant can get you high. This makes hemp wicks inherently cooler in my book, but I don't really know if they work well because I've never tried them. However I have tried other parts of the hemp plant and that worked well.

I've done that too, but the only result from that trial I remember was getting the munchies.

Soy candles have more tendency to get sick than other candles. Hence soy is not a good choice if you want to have the healthiest candles possible.

I would have thought paraffin candles were not healthy, since they tend to "smoke" more than soy candles

geek

PS Vicky has been struttin' her stuff lately!

[Gayla]

Good questions. I am an ignorant newbie myself, but have a thought or 2 on this.

I don't make any candles to sell, only for myself, and to give away. I happen to like soy because I like the creamy texture, the fact that mine have never smoked, and it is very easy to clean up.

IF, I were making them to sell, I wouldn't even add any dyes, just leave them the nice, natural creamy color. Cream color goes with any decor!!

[enchantedflorest]

LOL you are all to funny nice replies -- I think maybe just maybe some are being serious and others are not IMO LOL. I to see the coolness in hemp - many different usefull uses. I wouldnt worry soo much on the naturalness of the candle. I try to be naturlist but somethings are what they are. IMO I prefer soy but I am positive homeade well made candles are healthy no matter what they are based. Better then buying from Walmart.

[juniebird]

Thanks so much for your imput. Vicky, thank you for taking the time to go point by point! I have been thinking way too hard about all of this. I had a feeling that "natural" was really not all that natural.

Vicky, the product that was being advertised as a soy "oil" candle looked like a container candle with a wick. I was told that it burned at 2 degrees above body temp. You could dip your fingers in the melt pool, and then use the liquid as a massage oil - that is how the product was being marketed. It was $25.00 for a 12oz candle and they advertised it to burn for 180 hours. They were adament about there being no wax in this candle. Does this seem plausible?

I have been reading the posts on the new wax from Golden - there is a lot of good info about "healthy" candles on that thread as well.

Do any of you have any information on the products from Candlewealth? It is an MLM but they say that their candle making supplies are awesome.

Thanks again for all of your help. These threads are very informative!

[Gayla]

Thanks so much for your imput. Vicky, thank you for taking the time to go point by point! I have been thinking way too hard about all of this. I had a feeling that "natural" was really not all that natural.

Vicky, the product that was being advertised as a soy "oil" candle looked like a container candle with a wick. I was told that it burned at 2 degrees above body temp. You could dip your fingers in the melt pool, and then use the liquid as a massage oil - that is how the product was being marketed. It was $25.00 for a 12oz candle and they advertised it to burn for 180 hours. They were adament about there being no wax in this candle. Does this seem plausible?

I have been reading the posts on the new wax from Golden - there is a lot of good info about "healthy" candles on that thread as well.

Do any of you have any information on the products from Candlewealth? It is an MLM but they say that their candle making supplies are awesome.

Thanks again for all of your help. These threads are very informative!

I think I may know the candle you are referring to; I got one as a gift. Very nice smelling vanilla one, that says you can dip your fingers in and use it on dry hands, massage, etc. Pretty pricey hand cream. Did yours have a pic of a doggy on it? Not bashing it, I love it. It's just SOOOO expensive. I think mine cost $29. I know, because I looked it up online.

[juniebird]

No, there was no doggie. It was just a plain glass jar. I was just curious about their claims and tend to think that there has to be wax in this product. Unless I'm missing something, how would it set up like a regular candle, melt, and then set up again?

Any info on Candlewealth?

[Vicky_CO]

What you are talking about is actually a lotion candle and if you do a search here on lotion candles you will find most of us are pretty much against them for safety reason.

Our search feature is pretty good you can also put in candleweath and you will get a bunch of information I will be very honest it not good most people here think it more of a pyramid type of scheme.

But you have to remember this is a learning board filled with people that think you should use your own mind and research and do real development not just copy what others have done. Candleweath want eveything to be the same so with there system there is no creativity unless you break away from them.

[juniebird]

Vicky,

Thanks again for your helpful comments. I totally forgot about the search function. I will make sure to check that out first for all future questions.

[Golden Brands]

Vickey, great answers.

[Lil Wicks]

I checked into Candle Wealth, in fact I went as far as called and spoke with the president of the company. They by far have the best Boysenberry scent I have ever, as a matter of fact the best candle ever I have smelled. As of right now it was just a test scent and not available. Anyway, they have it set up so you would need to have people under you in order to get your supplies at an affordable price. You get discounts toward your orders based on what the people below you do.

According to the president the cool wax is a by product of all soy wax. As a matter of fact I just stuck my finger in my (Cargil c-3 soy wax) and it was cool to the touch and rubbed right into my skin.

I hope this helps.

Tera

[Lil Wicks]

Candle Wealth is just a soy candle and you can rub soy with the scents right into your skin as well.

Tera

[Candlewitch]

I had a lady in my store that was near the pillar section. Her eyes started twitching, I said whats wrong? She asked if they were petro, i said those were and she said she was allergic to it. SOY MILK,FOOD, May have more people allergic but i dont see people eating petroburgers and parafin milk so its not even close if you want to put apples to apples.

[Gretchen]

WOW! Vicki's reply should be a sticky! You go girl! That was like a little crash course! Thanks! (How did you do that; replying sort of 'within' her post? I know no computer tricks and I'm jealous of those who do!

Top- LMAO! Today has just been a belly-luaghin-kind-of-day!

This was a great, but kind of breif thread!

Gretchen

[topofmurrayhill]

I had a lady in my store that was near the pillar section. Her eyes started twitching, I said whats wrong? She asked if they were petro, i said those were and she said she was allergic to it. SOY MILK,FOOD, May have more people allergic but i dont see people eating petroburgers and parafin milk so its not even close if you want to put apples to apples.

Paraffin is in and on food so it's not unusual to be eating it. It may not be digestible but it's edible for what it's worth. Not everything natural is digestible, by a long shot.

I would classify bayberry and beeswax as the most natural waxes. They're produced by mother nature and used as-is. The refining process is simple and straightforward. Paraffin is the next most natural. It's produced by mother nature and used as-is, but requires a complex refining process and solvents to be recovered and purified. Next in line is soy wax because the raw materials also need to be refined in a complex process involving dangerous solvents. Additionally, those raw materials need to be chemically modified in factories to produce the final ingredients.

It's possible to be allegic to paraffin or soy wax. You can be allergic to most anything. But the most allergenic substance in candles by far is fragrance oil. It's an irritant, an allergen, mostly synthetic, and the biggest cause of soot apart from bad wicking and drafts, yet I don't see many candlemakers who don't love to use it. Those who are purportedly naturalists should be making candles for light instead of scent.

Or maybe just obtain some select parts of the hemp plant and don't worry about it.

[celicagtca]

Aloette carries a candle that also substitutes for a hand lotion. See below.

http://www.aloettecosmetics.com/oneproduct.aspx?product=153&nav=37

[mystical_angel1219]

HA! I have that exact same container complete with a flat glass lid to match.

The going price might make someone want to market candles for this purpose. But I personally scold every customer of mine that tells me that they put this soy mixture on their hands, face or whatever. Its a huge liability for a small business person. Just think of the Mc Donalds lawsuit. It just takes one dumbass to let that wax get a few degrees hotter than it should for application to the skin and its all over.

I do have one of those paraffin baths for skin therapy. I love this thing. I put soy wax into it with some essential oils and it makes my skin so wonderfully soft. But this is only for the hands, elbows and feet- personal use only. I can't see myself ever marketing this stuff to the public.

[jack be nimble]

CandleWealth International is a pyramid co. Meaning that they get you to sell candles and then you have to get people to make candles.I talked to them in the past and steered away.Their prices are very high for supplies.I wanted to go out on my own , which is the best way to go if you want to make good profits.