Michael Richard invented soy candles by testing and blending various plant waxes while seeking an economical natural alternative to beeswax. He ultimately formulated an all-vegetable wax of hydrogenated soy oil, coconut oil and palm oil in 1992. Thanks, Michael!
If you’re already a soy candle fan, you’ll probably have noticed that brands vary in appearance and performance. Wax is basically a fat that solidifies at room temperature. Most botanical oils need to be hydrogenated to make them firm up. Frosting, the white mashed-potato look, is the crystal structure that forms when a very high percent of hydrogenated oil was used to make the wax.
Lux Aromatica, Sycamore Hollow, and Vintage Lights soy candles are made with wax from American-grown soybeans. Soy wax produced in our country is a carbon neutral product, meaning that it has zero net impact on climate. Only a very small portion of the worldwide soy harvest goes into making soy wax. Most of the harvest becomes animal feed.
• Soy wax is bio-degradable and cleans up very easily with soapy hot water.
• Soy wax produces virtually no soot when burned, about the same amount as frying an egg.