Candle Making Wax

When doing candle making, it is always important to know which wax to use.  Each wax has different properties and will produce different types of candles.  In candle making the wax will affect the quality of your candle.

There are several candle making waxes, but the most popular used with companies is gel wax.  It is popular because you can suspend things like beads, stones, and marbles in it.  The down side with gel wax is that its melting point is around 200 F. When it is melted, it is still in gel form and is hard to pour into molds.


Another popular wax is beeswax.  Its natural color is white or yellow and it has a sweet fragrance to it.  Beeswax is also a very expensive wax.

Bayberry wax was originally used by the colonies.  Bayberry wax comes from the surface of the bayberry fruit.  It takes 50 pounds of this fruit to make 1 pound of wax.  Because of this, the colonies used these candles sparingly.  The benefit of this wax is that it naturally has a pleasant fragrance and it dark green.

The more popular wax used by colonials is tallow wax.  This wax comes from animal fat like cattle and sheep.  The draw back to this candle is that it has an unpleasant smell when it is burned.

Paraffin wax is the most used wax.  It is derived from the refining of petroleum.  Paraffin waxs benefits are that it has a low melting point, readily available, and is considered biodegradable.

Palm wax comes from palm trees.  This wax makes beautiful candles.  They are beautiful because the candle will have crystalline designs in it.

Soy wax is a popular wax for fragrant candles.  It helps to bring out the smell of both aromatherapy and scented candles.  It is also compatible with dyes.  Candles made of soy wax will also have a beautiful glossy sheen to them.

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