In the past, if you were to buy a soy candle, it was always a jar candle. The newest development in the soy candle industry is the soy pillar candle. In actuality, soy pillar candles are not pure soy since the soy wax is to soft and viscous to hold its shape on it’s own. When pillar candles made from soy were first introduced, most contained a small amount of paraffin. These days however, most companies use only vegetable based botanical oils such as palm oil to help the soy wax hold it’s shape as a pillar candles. If a candle boutique is advertising pure soy wax pillar candles, they are not being completely honest, or they may not even be aware that soy pillar blends are not pure soy wax.
Below, I will point out three reasons why you may want to purchase a soy pillar candle as opposed to a paraffin based pillar candle.
1. Soy pillar candle tend to burn longer as well as cleaner.
Soy based candles are made from renewable vegetable sources and therefore, do not release carcinogens into the air that we breath and when burned properly, the produce little to no soot. On the other hand, paraffin based candles always produce an amount of petro-carbon soot which is known to contain carcinogens. Besides the fact that this is bad for you and the environment, the black soot gets all over everything.
When burning paraffin candles, many people report that they get headaches. It is believed that the cause of this might be the fact that petro-carbons are released from the burning of paraffin candles. Once again, soy candles do not produce petro-carbons since they are not petroleum based.
It is know that soy wax burns longer than paraffin. The reason for this is because the melting point of soy wax is much lower than paraffin. Because of this, the soy candle will produce fewer BTU’s, consuming less of the wax in a given period of time. The soy wax can last up to 50% longer than paraffin wax.
2. Soy pillar candles hold their shape more than their paraffin counterparts.
Soy pillar candles are very good at holding their shape even in the warmer months of the year because the botanical oils used in the soy wax blends make the wax more rigid as opposed to the natural viscous nature of pure soy wax. Paraffin candles will bulge out at the top when burned and can even lose their shape completely in the heat. Depending on the quality of the soy wax and the type of wick used, very often the entire candle is consumed as opposed to paraffin, where you can often have large amounts of wax leftover after the candle has completely burned down.
3. Soy wax distributes fragrance more effectively than paraffin wax.
Scent throw, or fragrance dispersion, is how well and how efficiently the fragrance is released from the wax into the air. It is believed that the scent throw of a soy pillar candle is much better than that of a paraffin pillar candle. Since soy wax burns cooler and more consistently, this is reflected in the scent throw. The scent is released more slowly, but also more consistently and therefore lasts longer in the air surrounding the candle. Soy pillar candles contain from 3 to 6 percent fragrance as opposed to jar candles which very often contain double that amount. Now if you want to scent your entire house with one candle, you may prefer this, but with candles that contain that much fragrance, usually soot is produced and the scent can be overpowering.
Get more information about custom made candles, soy custom handmade custom pillar candles and many other specialty candles. Visit the Promethean Candle Boutique online shop for a complete list of products and information.