Soy Candles

There are two types of electric candles: one that plugs into an electrical outlet and is UL tested{United Laboratories} and the electric warmers.  The one that plugs into an outlet resembles a candle with the bulb representing the flame.  The electric warmers melt real wax candles.  During the holidays you often see the electric candles in windows of homes.  The most popular ones have built-in sensors that turn on at night and off during daytime.  Some use standard night light bulbs and some require specialty bulbs that resemble a flickering flame.

The electric warmers are decorative containers for wax tarts or melts.  They are powered by electricity to melt the candle wax and release the aroma into the air.  Soy wax is a excellent choice for your tarts to put into your electric candle warmer.  Soy wax is non-toxic, a renewable resource, burns 50% longer than paraffin wax, produces little to no soot and is easy to clean up with just soap and water.  Soy tart melts are just one example of scented soy candles.  They come in many different fragrances as well as unscented.

Tallow is made from rendered fat from animals.  Beef is the primary source of tallow.  A vegetarian version is available, made from the tallow tree, but its composition is slightly different.  With the many uses of tallow, it is a product in consistent demand. 

Tallow begins with the process of extraction of suet from a carcass.  Suet is hard fat found around the kidneys and other organs.  Suet can be used as it is but the shelf life is very short and it will turn rancid.  Suet contains many impurities.  Rendering the suet produces tallow.  Tallow can be kept for an extended period of time if kept in an airtight container in a cool place. 

Tallow can also be rendered from pigs, horses and sheep.  Tallow is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, has lesser amounts of saturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids.  Due to the composition of fats in tallow it is solid and at room temperature is odorless and tasteless. 

Uses of tallow: fuel, treatment for leather, base for soaps, base for candles, in lubricants and cooking oils.  It can be turned into bio-fuel, used as a food supplement for animals, and is used in leather dressings and waterproofing compounds designed for leather. 

Making tallow at home is possible but messy and smelly.  It is made by cooking diced fat in water, cooling it, straining it to remove impurities, skimming off the top layer of fat which accumulates after a night of chilling.  It is also possible to purchase plain tallow, removing the mess and smell.

Tallow used as a base for candles was used in our past history.  Now as new products have made it easier to make candles, tallow is not used as much.  Soy wax is a relatively new base for making candles.  It is made from the soybean grown in the United States and other countries that produce soybeans.  It is a renewable resource and helps promote the American farm industry.  It is also easy to clean up with just soap and water.  Soy wax can be dyed and scented producing many soy candle fragrances.  Scented soy candles made from only soy wax  are non-toxic, produce little to no soot  and burn 50% longer than paraffin candles.  You can also make and purchase unscented soy candles.

An unscented candle is just the opposite of a scented candle.  This candle was created for the purpose of not having any fragrance, scent or aroma.  If burning candles is for the only purpose of providing light, then maybe an unscented candle is the best choice.  Unscented candles tend to be less expensive.

For anyone with allergies, unscented candles are the way to go.  Scented candles can cause headaches and breathing problems if you are sensitive to certain scents.  If storing the candles for a period of time, unscented candles will not attach their aroma to the drawer or cupboard being stored in.  Scented candles will leave behind their aroma and will even spread it onto neighboring candles in the same area, leaving a mixed fragrance. 

If you are burning a scented candle and just want additional sizes to accent your decor but not interfere with the fragrance, then adding unscented candles is an option.  When you burn more than one scented candle at a time they can cause an unpleasant aroma as they are fighting each others fragrance.   Unscented candles come in all sizes and shapes, as well as colors.  Having a colored candle, does not mean it has to have fragrance associated with it.  For beginners in candle making, unscented wax is the easiest to use as it is very basic.  Once you have mastered this step, move on to adding dye to make colored candles and then essential oils for fragrances.

You can find unscented wax in different kinds; beeswax, paraffin wax, gel and soy wax are a few.  Soy wax candles can be found scented or unscented.  The benefits of using soy wax candles are: they are non-toxic, a renewable resource, burn 50% longer than paraffin wax, produce little to no soot and clean up with just soap and water.  The natural soy wax also burns at a lower temperature thus reducing the risk of burns from hot candle wax.