Soy Candles

What is soy wax?  It is a vegetable wax made from soybeans.  The vast majority of soybeans are grown in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.  After the soybeans are harvested they are cleaned, cracked, de-hulled, and rolled into flakes.  Next the oil is extracted from the flakes and hydrogenated.  During this process some of the fatty acids in the oil are converted from unsaturated to saturated.  This is what alters the melting point of the oil and allows it to be a solid at room temperature.  The nice thing is that all of the soybean is put to use.  The leftover bean husks are used as animal feed.

Natural soy wax can be used by candle makers in many different ways.  It can be mixed with paraffin to create a para-soy blend, or used as straight soy wax, or mixed with other natural oils.  As you can see the great advantage of soy wax is that it is a renewable resource.  The only limit to it is how much WE decide to grow in soybeans.  Paraffin wax is in short supply with the worlds oil resources shrinking, thus also causing the price of paraffin to increase.  Remember paraffin is made from the by-products of oil refinement.  Soy wax is Eco-friendly, renewable, American grown, non-toxic or carbon neutral, burns 50% longer than paraffin and produces much less if any soot when burnt.

So make this year 2009, one filled with new choices, new ideas and health conscious decisions.  Burn soy candles in your home, work environment, office, on vacation, wherever you would think of burning a paraffin candle.  You can help to make the world a healthier place to live with the choice of using soy wax candles.