Soy Vs. Paraffin?

[JMT]

Are people still making a fuss over which is better? I know Soy is healthier but are customers "over" Soy candles in terms of being healthier. Because I hear that paraffin and soy both on some level don't burn 100% clean.

I make candles with paraffin. I was just wondering what the concensus was in terms of customers asking if the candle is made of soy or paraffin. Or if they just pick up the candle and if they like it, buy it. Without asking what it's made of.

Have anyone switched from Paraffin to soy? I am wondering how they are different when making the candle. Is the soy wax sticky? Difficult?

thanks

JT

[Crafty1_AJ]

I do both types. Frankly, most of my customers couldn't care less which type of wax it's made of. They just go by how well they like the scent and they do want great hot throw.

I do have some customers who buy soy because they feel it is a healthier alternative to paraffin. But I personally don't rag on either type of wax; I just list the pros & cons of each and let the customers decide. Nine times out of ten, they just want what smells good and will scent their room, so I try my best to deliver.

[dcroome2005]

This will be a touchy subject (thread) for some.. I have never tried soy nor burned a soy candle in my life. Not saying I wouldn't, just haven't. Just parrafin for me !

[topofmurrayhill]

Soy vs. paraffin is kind of an artificial war that was started from the agribusiness side when it sought to make inroads into the candle industry. Not to mention the patent holders who were looking for publicity and profits.

To me it's all just ingredients. As an exclusive ingredient, straight soy makes relatively ugly candles and is touchy about throwing scent (although it does clean up easy). It works a lot better with additives or as part of a blend with petroleum products. I think the biggest thing going forward will be soy with paraffinic additives and paraffin-soy blends.

Paraffin will remain the primary candlemaking material for it's untouchable combination of versatility, aesthetics and good burning properties. You can't really go wrong with that. But paraffin and vegetable ingredients are very compatible and useful together and the word soy on the label is marketable even if it's not 100%.

[Hope]

I know Soy is healthier but are customers "over" Soy candles in terms of being healthier.

Soy being healthier is debatable, and I'm not trying to start that debate here. Customers.... well, some will buy small blops of wrinkle cream without researching the stuff. And pay grand sums of money for it. Go figure. I think that is more of an advertising/marketing issue. IMO, I think most customers just want a great smelling candle that doesn't crap out on them.

Just for starters, if you were to google soybean wax, you'd find a great deal of info regarding the history and stuff previously discussed in this thread.

My soy wax isn't sticky in room temp. solid form.

[Candle Man]

I use my own soy blend in containers. Why... Because I get very little to no black soot on the jar and that relates to no black soot on walls, drapes etc. I found I could not make a low soot paraffin container.

My customers want a low to no soot candle with complete burn and great throw, so that's what I give them.

Now for pillars & votives I use paraffin, because I can't get good results in soy pillar/votive wax.

Like stated above I think most of it is marketing & what the customer likes. Yes I have some customers ask "are your candles soy" and I respond with, they are my own soy blend. Then I tell them the benefits of soy, I have found with testing, over paraffin not all the hype you here out there.

[mystical_angel1219]

I switched from paraffin to soy a few years back.

But I feel it is a personal preference from a chandler standpoint. What works for others- may not work for you and visa versa. Anything labeled "soy" has incredible market potential. Be it candle, lotion, soap or what have you. Even in consumables, Soy is really hot in the marketplace right now.

However, this is does not make it a more superior substance to create candles. Soy in it's purest form may be difficult to work with and has many variables to consider. It can be mastered. But again, I will say it will require a ton of testing to see what actually works for you. Wicking a soy candles vs. a paraffin candle will be two totally different animals. Colorants as well. Color in paraffin can be bright and translucent. You will never achieve this with a straight 415 soy. No matter what colorant you use- it cannot be done.

I would never in a million years go back to straight petroleum materials to make my candles. But they can offer stablization when added to straight soy in different percentages. Soy wax is not sticky. But it requires a climate controlled environment to be at it's very best. I personally think it boils down to your own preferences and what works for you as far as production.

[pamperme]

Yes I agree. Personal preference.

I used straight soy in the begining and I tried a bit of paraffin...and well hated it.. I hate the clean up..soy is sooo much eaiser to clean up but paraffin has a bit of a better burn.

so I switched to a blend. Mostly soy but some paraffin mixed in for a better burn. I LOVE it and unless they stop making it I will never switch. My customers love it to.

Straight soy tends to be hard work with like Mystical said. I used 415 for a long time and just could not stand the inconsistancies with it...adding the paraffin to it...makes no frosting and the throw seems better in MOST scents..there are still a few I need to tweak the amounts of FO on but it is always a work in progress...and the testing NEVER ends.:rolleyes2

[Mona]

According to the National Candle Association, "No candle wax has ever been shown to be toxic or harmful to human health." But sometimes I wonder about soy wax, because of the pesticides used to prevent soybean rot.

http://www.candles.org/elements_wax.html

[Kaybee23]

I am not concerned about the pesticides in the soy anymore than the pesticides they use on the fruits and vegetables that I eat. But I am no expert on this, and would be interested in knowing more about it.

[topofmurrayhill]

As Kaybee23 says, if you're worried about pesticides then candle wax should be the least of your worries. The wax is made of soy oil. Most other things made of soy oil you actually eat rather than burn.

Again, paraffin and soy shortening are both just candlemaking ingredients. If you're really interested in chandlery there's no reason you can't explore both or even both together. The one thing I must admit I think is kinda silly is the fixation on "100% soy" candles. What's the point? Crisco oil is 100% soy but nobody thinks that's a big deal.

You could use 100% paraffin but the range and quality of what you can produce will be much more limited than if you use additives or blends. The same is true of soy but way more so.

[geekrunner]

At first, I was drawn to soy because if I was going to test jar candles, I wanted the cleanup to be easy. Cleaning aluminum pillar molds after using paraffin is no big deal, but it's next to impossible to wash out a jar that had any kind of paraffin in it.

When I decided to adventure out and try paraffin, I tried J-50. It seemed alot of people liked it. I had a hard time wicking it without it sooting badly, and so stuck to soy.

I had used 415 for a while, and when I started getting requests for colored candles, found that soy doesn't color very well. I have tried like others have and mixed 415 with paraffin, specifically the J-50 I purchased, and had decent results using 25% to 30% J-50. Great color uniformity, no frosting, but it seemed that the cold throw suffered, and I didn't like the way it looked when the wax pulled away from the jar. After considerable testing, I have a proprietary 100% soy blend that takes color well, only frosts a tiny bit, excellent adhesion, and very good cold and hot throw. If I ever go to a parasoy, I'll use the Greenleaf 70/30 for an "upscale" line.

The few customers I do have now have raved about how well the candle burns, specifically no soot and complete consumption.

For me, I would never rag on paraffin to a customer, but would definitely talk up the good qualities of soy. Hopefully the big boys like YankMe won't catch on and try their hand at parasoys, we need to have that advantage in our corner!

geek