WHY doesn't soy throw as well?

[Kassandra]

I just wondered if anyone knew the reasons that soy does't throw as well as parafin? I've accepted this to be true, but I'm curious about the actual reasons behind it...

[grammafransfixins]

I make pure soy candles and actually do for a few reasons.

1.. they have a better cold and hot scent throw.

2.. they burn cleaner, longer, and scent from beginning to end.

3.. they are natural..no chemicals.

4.. soap and water clean up.

5.. I have a white kitchen and every paraffin candle I burn leaves soot all over!!

I have never found a paraffin candle to smell as good as my soy candles. I also have friends who make soy candles and they out last, and smell any paraffin made..

Just my opinion

[RobinInOR]

Mostly because for the last 35 years candle fragrances have been fine tuned to work with paraffin. Soy hasn't been used very long in the grand scheme of candlemaking. But you can find more and more fragrances that are being tested in soy, so I think in the future you'll find better performing fragrances.

[firegirl]

I make pure soy candles and actually do for a few reasons.

1.. they have a better cold and hot scent throw.

2.. they burn cleaner, longer, and scent from beginning to end.

3.. they are natural..no chemicals.

4.. soap and water clean up.

5.. I have a white kitchen and every paraffin candle I burn leaves soot all over!!

I have never found a paraffin candle to smell as good as my soy candles. I also have friends who make soy candles and they out last, and smell any paraffin made..

Just my opinion

I have both sold and made both types of candles for several years. I have yet to find a 100% soy candle that could touch a parrafin one. If you ever decide to mix your own custom blend, or if you have ever made candles with IGI's Comfort blend, you would understand why I am making that statement. I will say that I have found that soy does burn clean, but so can a properly wicked candle with appropriate fragrance loads. This is just my opinion as well. I have not found a 100% soy wax that could match the fragrance load of some of the superior parrafin waxes available. Now, all this being said..I have finally settled on my own custom blend of both waxes because I like the best of both worlds. I love qualities in both waxes, but I have found in my extensive testing that they both have positive and negative qualities. It all boils down to what you love/dislike and are willing to tolerate from both types of wax. This is only my very humble opinion.

[Scent Cellar]

In my candlemaking experiences I have compared making the bakery scents in soy and in paraffin and the soy usually has better hot throw than the pariffin. I think the florals & musk scents do better in paraffin.

[funnygirl]

In my experiances it really does depend on the FO. I have one that I poured in my J223 and it had no cold or hot throw at all, but in my soy it did awesome, and vice versa. I just tested candle cocoons Vanilla Voodoo in some straight soy, I only cured it for 20 hours. It is the STRONGEST candle I have ever made!!!!!! My entire house and even outside my house smells like this candle. Now I have to try all their scents and keep my fingers crossed that they have more that throw like this in soy.

[Kassandra]

I found this on the web:

"The molecular structure of soy wax contains various types of chemical bonds that make it harder to break down than paraffin wax. Its structure is more prone to trapping scent, than allowing it to evaporate freely. It takes more heat to break down these chemical bonds, therefore, you will need to use hotter burning wicks when making soy candles. Try increasing your wick size. Also, we suggest that you use 1.5 ounces of fragrance per pound of soy wax with the majority of our fragrances. If you are still not happy with the scent throw of your soy wax candles, consider using a soy/paraffin blend wax."

[grammafransfixins]

I know everyones nose is different and everyone has an opinion.... LOL

As for me.. I have made many kinds of candles...both soy and paraffin...pillar and container and molded and so on. Of every kind...with every scent... soy still is wayyyy better!

My soy tarts are the best by far, and I have loads of customers to tell you they have never smelled, or melted anything like them.. LOL

I am a candle freak, and have bought many many candle and just not happy with any of the paraffin ones I have owned...or made.

But like I said.. to each his/her own... That is what makes the world go round...Right??

[carol k]

my 100% soy candle are way better then yank**'s. i've won over alot of die hard yank** people they have said mine are way better.

[mindy5140]

Ok, I make soy candles but my friend makes paraffin candles. Some FO's smell awesome in her candles but don't smell that well in mine. And vise versa, it's all about which FO's you use in your soy. It's not because one wax is better than the other.

JMO,

Mindy

[lsbennis]

I have found that if I use higher quality FO's in soy that I usually get a good scent throw. JMO

[wookie130]

I am a soy user (although I'm slowly inching toward a parasoy blend), and have always had excellent cold and hot throw in my soy container candles. However, I absolutely love working with some of the pre-blended paraffins as well, and will admit reluctantly that many of the paraffin waxes are killer hot and cold throwers...such as the IGI Comfort Blend. I've yet to find a wax that will hold as much FO, and with such amazing hot throw. It's an amazing beast...and soy has yet to live up to it for me, although soy has been my preference for other reasons.

So, as a soy user, I certainly can understand why so many stick to their paraffin guns!

[scntdwik]

I do both soy and parrafin and can get my soy candles to soot...

I think it was very well said above, a properly made and properly burnt Parrafin should soot very little as well.

I do not find that many of my F/O's perform as well in my soy as they do in my parrafin.

I dont think F/O's have been perfected as well yet for use in soy.

And for those of you who worship your soy, god bless you. I dont think one is better than the other.

[jakalex]

I have had great results with CB135. I have found that quality oils are a must but not necessarily lower or higher priced. It is best to order FO's from a company that test in soy. The companies that I have found that consistantly throw hot and cold in CB135 are:

Candlescience~I think they are working on a soy rating for their FO's

Snowtop

Millcreek

Northstar

The Candle Source

The only problem that I have found are the wet spots. I can live with those since I get a great scent throw. I may try adding beeswax to the CB135 in the future.

[wookie130]

I have had great results with CB135. I have found that quality oils are a must but not necessarily lower or higher priced. It is best to order FO's from a company that test in soy. The companies that I have found that consistantly throw hot and cold in CB135 are:

Candlescience~I think they are working on a soy rating for their FO's

Snowtop

Millcreek

Northstar

The Candle Source

The only problem that I have found are the wet spots. I can live with those since I get a great scent throw. I may try adding beeswax to the CB135 in the future.

There's another recent thread about higher vs. lower priced FO's and the difference in quality. Many people are willing to pay much more for a quality oil, and I can completely understand that. I've also paid a lot more for oils that were deemed "high quality" only to be disappointed in their performance in wax. It really just depends on the oil...I have plenty of cheaper fragrances from JS/BCN/Millcreek, and some others that throw like mad in soy wax. Others are clearly meant for paraffin use, typically the florals, ozone smells, and more perfumey types. Bakery/foody/spicey smells tend to work marvelously for me in soy, just as they do in paraffin. That's why it's so important to test, and take advantage of sample sizes, so you can determine your preference in soy wax.

[lsbennis]

I have had great results with CB135. I have found that quality oils are a must but not necessarily lower or higher priced. It is best to order FO's from a company that test in soy. The companies that I have found that consistantly throw hot and cold in CB135 are:

Candlescience~I think they are working on a soy rating for their FO's

Snowtop

Millcreek

Northstar

The Candle Source

The only problem that I have found are the wet spots. I can live with those since I get a great scent throw. I may try adding beeswax to the CB135 in the future.

Also add...A Scent Shop and Just By Nature to the list. Plus I have had some good luck with some of Peaks FO's....I love Breakfast At Tiffanys!

[jhepp7gw2]

I get a great throw in the soy wax. I use the Golden Brands 444 and I firmly believe that you need to test your scents. I deal with 3 companies for scents and they all have good strong scents, Natures Garden , Bittercreek North and Soycandle.com. I get samples from two of the suppliers every time I send for a new order and they have been sending me some great scents!

I have noticed that the food type smells are really great in soy if you have a nice strong scent. I like to use 1 and 1/2 ounces FO per pound of wax.

I really love it when I get the free samples from my suppliers , thats usually how they reel me in to by more and it works every time they do it.

All around though I would say soy is juat as good as paraffin for a good scent throw.

[mystical_angel1219]

Soy wax is as natural product, so you will never get the same exact result as you do with paraffin. Paraffin is stablized. Soy is not, at least pure soy isn't.

Even the more pricey fragrances sometimes will not throw in soy.

Soy is finicky. It needs a stable environment and takes time and skill to completely understand this wax. It has strengths and weaknesses. It all depends on what you consider a quality candle.

I would never recommend soy to a complete newbie, as they will become frustrated in a short time. You can design a quality candle system with soy. It is not just the wax to consider. It is the complete system- wax, wick, container, colorant, FO and technique. Throw in some optimal, stable temperatures to that equation as well.

Someone here mentioned that soy candles are all natural and chemical free.

Big misconception. As soon as you add fragrance, you are adding chemicals.

Anything that has a wick or burns gives off chemicals. Doesn't matter if it is soy or paraffin. Soy is actually processed with some very potent chemicals.

[lisajo]

Like others have said, you need to work with fragrances specifically for soy. I use 100% soy wax from Bluegrass. Their FO's are marvelous in 100% soy. I've also used KY soy and FO's with equally marvelous results. I've used other companies for FOs but they can be hit or miss. The main thing is test, test, test to find the fragrances that work with your particular type of soy wax.

[so-soy]

I honestly don't believe its so much the type of wax your using as it is the quality of fo that you use...yes there are scents that won't throw in soy, but knock your socks off in paraffin, and vice versa, but when someone says 'soy is waaayyyyy better' for scent throw I think they have possibly been mislead in the 'soy arena'....a scent that is so over powering strong, is going to be that way in any type of wax basically, its the fo! The FO companies realize candlemakers are demanding strong strong oils...so this is what they are putting out there, the competition for them is huge. Soy has some good qualities, Its what I use, but I have also found, because of its 'picky' nature, we are limited to certain oils that throw, where as paraffin can throw almost anything!! LOL...So to actually state one type of wax is superior over the other is really being narrow minded, in my opinion!

[stacien]

Soy wax is as natural product, so you will never get the same exact result as you do with paraffin. Paraffin is stablized. Soy is not, at least pure soy isn't.

Even the more pricey fragrances sometimes will not throw in soy.

Soy is finicky. It needs a stable environment and takes time and skill to completely understand this wax. It has strengths and weaknesses. It all depends on what you consider a quality candle.

I would never recommend soy to a complete newbie, as they will become frustrated in a short time. You can design a quality candle system with soy. It is not just the wax to consider. It is the complete system- wax, wick, container, colorant, FO and technique. Throw in some optimal, stable temperatures to that equation as well.

Someone here mentioned that soy candles are all natural and chemical free.

Big misconception. As soon as you add fragrance, you are adding chemicals.

Anything that has a wick or burns gives off chemicals. Doesn't matter if it is soy or paraffin. Soy is actually processed with some very potent chemicals.

I am going to have to agree with you. It is the fine tuning of the candle that makes it great. Yes adding FO's are adding chemicals. I do prefer myself to work with all vegetables not because of a vegetarian's point of view but because I am not a big lover of using fossil fuel bases. I realize burning candles doesn't help but, In my mind I want to do what I can to help out. So I will go with the renewable resource. If I didn't have so many kids I would be the one driving a Hybrid vehical but they don't make them that big. That is just how I feel. Nobody get offended. I notice a difference in how differently the two throw the same scent. For example if you take buttercream and smell the difference because the soy is food based anyway it tends to emulate a food scent better.

It is funny though how Soy verses Paraffin tends to be a hot topic like politics and religeon. We could all go on all day debating. We should all just agree that we all like burning candles.

[beesweet]

I seem to have the opposite problem. I can't get most food scents to throw to save my life. And this is in a blend of ezsoy and paraffin! The ones that threw in ezsoy were few and far between so I gave up. I've tested about 30 scents so far in the blend and about 2/3 have had the minimum of what I would consider a "good" throw. I do have to say, though, that a few of these are actually better in the blend than in paraffin alone or soy alone. It's interesting to note that these are also the higher-end, pricier scents. From my testing, those scents mix better and throw better with some soy in the mix. I could stand to lose some scents anyway, but there are a few must-haves that I will have to continue using in paraffin alone.

I believe some people have soy magic and others (myself included) don't!

[roxi4112000]

I started out 2 years ago with 100% soy and would never use anything else, I dabbled in some blends but I loved the throw from 100% soooo much more, there some scents that have trouble with soy but there is a supplier out there that has the one I need for soy( so far anyway, lots of testing:cheesy2: ) try soycandle.com all of her scents are tested in soy before she offers then she has alot of good scents. Good Luck:highfive:

[wookie130]

A couple of other suppliers that cater to the soy community are Millcreek and Snowtop...both have wonderful oils for soy wax. I bet they'd also be mind-blowing in paraffin.

[stacien]

I have to agree Millcreek has great scents. I have never had a problem with Peaks either. I have learned my lesson to go with the suppliers that test themselves in soy. They usually post the outcome too. Well, Millcreek deals only with soy. But BCN and BCS usually tell you if they work well in soy.