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There are many choices of wax that are used in candles. Some of these waxes have better throw and some burn longer and cleaner.
I can't tell you how confusing it was when we first started looking at making candles. Paraffin was the mainstay, right?? Well we thought so and for many candle makers it still is.
Wax- is basically a fuel which requires a heat source which melts and vaporizes a small amount of the fuel (wax). Once vaporized, the fuel combines with oxygen to ignite and keeps a flame. This flame has enough heat to keep the candle burning by melting the top of the wax drawing fuel upward through the wick and vaporizes to burn in the candles flame. There ya go!! :)
There are many types of "oils" that can be used to make candles as we found in our research.
Coconut, Palm, Bees, Paraffin, Soy.....so which to use...ugh! Our research began. We had used Yankee candles which use a refined Paraffin wax in most of their candles. We used Soy wax candles but never really liked the scent throw cold or hot. We started with a paraffin wax and tested several types over a 3 month period but we also wanted a cleaner burning candle. We spent some time with the Soy and still found it was more difficult to get a good scent throw. After talking with wax suppliers and doing some more researching about Soy we found out it is more difficult for the fragrance to bind with the melted Soy at the molecular level causing a more subtle scent when burning.
SOY WAX
Soy is used in a lot of candle making and people tend to think it is more environmentally friendly compared to traditional Paraffin wax, and, yes, it burns slower and cleaner. But, again has a more subtler scent throw as Soy doesn't hold as much fragrance. That being said, many people like the softer scent.
Soy candle haven't been around a long time and is a vegetable wax from soybean oil. While soy is a better choice environmentally speaking, it still has a few eco issues. Soybean oil is a byproduct of the soybean industry and there are concerns over the deforestation and the use of pesticides and fertilizers used to grow the bean.
Coconut Wax
While coconut wax is a great new wax in the industry and is very eco friendly but tends to be very expensive.
Beeswax
Beeswax is probably the oldest type of wax and is great for it's own natural honey aroma but doesn't really mix with other scents. Beeswax candles are considered the healthiest because they are smokeless and sootless.
Paraffin Wax
Before Soy and Coconut, there was Paraffin. Paraffin wax is still popular with many hign end candle makers because it holds color and scent very well, and is easily available. Green-minded people often label it as bad because it's made from leftovers of the crude oil. This doesn't automatically make it toxic, and the upside is that parts of the oil that would be discarded are getting used.
Soy-Blend wax
So, deep breath, after all of this research and what what we wanted to have in a great candle, we decided to use a blend of both Soy and Paraffin to make our candles. We use a blend of approximately 53% Soy and 47% Paraffin in our wax. This blend is cleaner than straight Paraffin because the Soy and has a great scent throw the Paraffin allows, and has a beautiful creamy texture.
We know there are a lot of candles to choose from and we truly believe we came up with the best solution for a great candle that is cleaner and still has a wonderful scent throw, cold and hot.
Tim
Our blog posts are meant to be informative about the things we have learned through our product testing and learning about aspects of what we make. We hope you enjoy the posts.
Sandra & Tim
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Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)
We had a question recently about our soap label listing lye in the ingredients. So, is there actual lye in our soap or any handmade cold process soap? The answer is NO! But we choose to list the ingredients that go into the soap making process. There are ways to list the materials without using the term "Sodium Hydroxide" but we feel that is a little misleading. Let me explain....
First, you can’t make cold process soap without it. There is no ifs-ands-or-buts about it, cold process soap requires lye to become…well, soap! When oils and lye water are emulsified, the saponification process begins. This means the sodium hydroxide lye solution starts turning the oil into soap.
It's very common for soapmakers to get asked about the use of lye in their cold process soaps. The fact is that lye is indeed used to make soap. While in many minds, “lye soap” brings up images of grandmas and washboards and red, red hands, anyone who has used handmade soap knows that it is quite mild and moisturizing. Sound like a contradiction? Well, the truth is that the lye was there, but now it’s gone. Is it magic? Sort of. It’s chemistry!
Why lye, anyway?
Soap, by definition, is the result of a chemical reaction between some kind of oil (like olive oil, coconut oil or cocoa butter) and lye. Lye is a solution made with either sodium hydroxide (to make bar soap) or potassium hydroxide (to make liquid soap). The reaction is called saponification. That’s it. Beautiful in its simplicity, no? The other stuff (colors, fragrance, flower petals) adds to the enjoyment of your shower or bath.
No lye? No soap. Period.
Where’s the lye?
“But hold on,” you might say, “the soap I buy at the store doesn’t have lye.” It may seem that way, depending on how the soap is labeled. Some ingredient labels list things like “sodium palmate”. This is the chemical name for the result of mixing palm oil and sodium hydroxide – oil and lye again! That bar of soap was made by blending in some already-made palm oil soap. The lye that went into making the sodium palmate was used up by the time it went into the soap, so it doesn’t have to be listed on the ingredient label. Or maybe the label lists “saponified olive oil”. Now that you know what saponification means, you can understand that saponified oils are oils that have been reacted with lye at some point, even if the label doesn’t actually say “sodium hydroxide”.
Another very common reason that a soap label may not list sodium hydroxide is that it’s not soap. Surprised? Many bars in the market today are really solid detergents. Read the labels carefully and you’ll see that they are called “body bars” or “beauty bars” since they can’t call themselves “soap” because they aren’t made with oils and lye.
How can lye soap feel so good on the skin?
If lye is used to make soap, why is handmade soap so gentle? The trick is that the lye gets used up during saponification. That’s right. The chemical reaction transforms the oil and lye into (Ta-da!) soap and glycerin. The soap cleans your skin (but not so much that all the oils are stripped off ) and the glycerin is a humectant. That means that it attracts moisture from the air and onto your skin, helping it stay moisturized and supple. And unlike Grandma, modern handmade soapmakers are able to formulate their soap using high-quality, beneficial oils and just enough lye to get a mild, conditioning bar that still gives a lovely lather.
So have no fear! Use our handmade soap and enjoy all the benefits that it brings. Because the magic of chemistry has turned those oils and lye into something completely different and lovely: some of the best soap you can use on your skin!
We hope this gives you a better understanding of how the "Cold Process" soap making works. This process is also why the cure time is 4-6 weeks for our beautiful soaps!
Tim and Sandra
Some of the information in this blog came from one of our suppliers, TheSoapQueen at Brambleberry.
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