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Candle Waxes
Beeswax - Beeswax is the secretion of honeybees
used to form their honey storage combs. After the honey is removed, bee
keepers generally melt down the combs and reform it into blocks of beeswax.
The beeswax has a slight honey smell and is yellow brown in color and
contains bee parts and bits of pollen. To obtain refined beeswax, the
wax needs to be filtered and bleached to get white wax. Beeswax burns
slowly, doesn't shrink as it hardens (so you don't need to top of your
candles as they harden), and tends to be soft and tacky (making it difficult
to release from molds).
Petroleum waxes or paraffins - Paraffin wax is
a by product of refining crude oil into motor oil. It can be made to
have various melting points and in general are classified as low, medium
and high MP waxes. The most commonly used paraffins have melting points
between 120 and 150 F. Always make sure you are buying a good quality
paraffin so that you get a good, clean and odorless burning candle. Synthetic
waxes - these can be highly refined petro waxes or synthetic polymers.
Vegetable waxes - Waxes such as carnauba and candelilla
are obtained from waxy plants that grow in Mexico, Texas and Brazil.
These waxes are much more brittle than beeswax and have very high melting
points and are therefor used mainly to raise the melting point of softer
waxes and to make them harder. Use these waxes when you need to add strength
to a wax blend. Soy wax is a softer wax and is good for container candles
and small 3 inch pillars. Soy wax is an earth friendly wax, it burns longer,
cooler and cleaner than paraffin wax, it comes from a renewable, sustainable
source, it is not carcinogenic & it supports American farmers.
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