J&L Decor, a handmade home decor company out of Montana, sent me a lovely handmade Lavender and Vanilla Scented Soy Candle to try out recently, along with some enlightening info about why they chose to make their candles using soy wax.
Lauren Cox, the co-founder of J&L Decor, recently wrote a post about Soy vs Paraffin Wax and why soy is the better choice:
*Article summarized: Paraffin is the most common candle out there right now, and you see them in many big corporate stores like Walmart and Target. Why? Paraffin wax is cheap to buy which makes it cheap to turn into candles.
But paraffin wax is not necessarily the best choice since it is known for stirring up allergies and having a very smokey burn. For this reason, J&L Decor chooses to use soy wax instead. Read on to learn more about paraffin vs. soy and the benefits of burning a cleaner all-natural wax.
What is Paraffin?
Paraffin wax is a byproduct of crude oil refinement and the smokey burn is due to the incomplete combustion of carbon resulting in soot. In fact, most candles made from paraffin wax contain high levels of toxic benzene and toluene found when burning the candle. Both of these are carcinogenic toxins also found in diesel fuel fumes and are what can trigger allergies as well as cause respiratory issues. Since soy wax is a vegetable oil based product, you don’t have to deal with that oily petro-carbon soot you get when burning paraffin wax. This soot is the black slick you find all around the top of the container after burning. The candles can also leave soot on walls on furnishings and is hard to get off.
What Are the Benefits of Soy?
- Soy candles burn longer – The average burn time on an 8 oz. paraffin wax candle is approximately 35 hours. Soy candles normally burn about twice as long as paraffin candles.
- They are also easier to clean up – since soy is made from vegetables rather than being a refined gasoline by-product, all you need is soap and water to clean up wax spills.
- Soy holds fragrance longer because the candles burn slower.
- They burn clean, no sooty residue!
Is There a Drawback to Using Soy?
Only in appearance- soy candles have slight flaws that paraffin candles do not have. The soy expands and contracts with the change of temperature and can leave air bubbles in the jar. They often have a frosted or orange peel appearance. But these little imperfections do not affect how the candle burns.
So for a cleaner burn, longer burn time and more fragrant candle, the choice is clear- Soy candles are the way to go!
Want to try one for yourself? Check out the selection at JandLDecor.com
As for my candle, the lavender vanilla scent reminded me a bit of fresh laundry, but I think that’s because I use a lavender vanilla scented fabric softener. I lit the candle and after about 30 min. the scent filled the room and made its way around the house, so I can attest to the highly scented claims being true! And after letting it burn for a while, I blew it out and there was no sooty black ring around the candle. I stuck my finger in the cooling wax to see if it felt different and it was oily and didn’t dry and harden right away like paraffin. I dripped a little on my desk and it easily wiped up with soap and water.
I never knew there was much difference in the wax candles were made from, so it was interesting to learn about the soy wax. I am definitely a fan now! No more trying to wipe the soot off the tops of candle holders.
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