History of Candles and Soy Wax

Soy wax is a relatively new product if you look how long it has been in use compared to the length of time people have been burning candles.  Candles have been used for at least 5000 years!!  Soy candles have been around for about 15 years. Historically candles have been made from many different sources including whale blubber, tallow, beeswax, bayberry, and in the last 150 years paraffin mixed with stearic acid.

Since its introduction in the 1850’s paraffin candle wax has been widely used, more than all other candle waxes combined.  Paraffin has little to no odor, compared to tallow (animal fat candles) and is cheap to produce, compared to beeswax and bayberry.  It’s only been in the last 25 years or so that humans have discovered many of the harmful chemical compounds found in paraffin wax.

Natural waxes are not new in the candle world.  Until the use of paraffin, all candle waxes came from natural sources. The earliest candles were made from tallow , animal fats. Tallow candles worked, but gave a very strong unpleasant smell.  Beeswax has been around in candles for a very long time, but due to it’s expense it wasn’t widely used. Using the oil from whale blubber to make wax was very popular until the 1850’s.  Even more popular and expensive has Spermaceti, headmatter of sperm whales, which was introduced about 1748. Spermaceti candles were the most priced and expensive candles because they produced almost no odor. Colonial women offered America's first contribution to candlemaking, when they discovered that boiling the grayish-green berries of bayberry bushes produced a sweet-smelling wax that burned cleanly. However, extracting the wax from the bayberries was extremely tedious. As a result, the popularity of bayberry candles soon diminished. Beeswax and Bayberry candles can still be found, but command a steep price

This leads us to the year 1991 when Michael Richards began looking for a natural, cheaper alternative to beeswax. After testing many oils he found hydrogenated soy bean oil made an excellent candle wax. The process was researched by the University of Iowa in conjunction with Richards and the soy candle industry was born! In 2001 the Cargill Corporation bought the patent from Michael Richards and began producing commercially available soy wax.

Since the introduction of soy candles, the EPA and The American Lung association have released reports about the danger of burning paraffin in enclosed environments. The Oil companies have demanded retractions and threatened the American Lung association with litigation, but the facts are what they are.  Burning paraffin is not good for you!!

The benefits of burning soy candles will continue to spread as more and more people use and enjoy them. Maybe one day a paraffin candle will be a thing of the past.  We can only hope!!