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What Are Soy Candles?
Have you been hearing a lot about soy candles? What are soy candles, anyway? And how are candles made with soy better than paraffin candles - or are they? And who knew there were so many different kinds of candles?
Candles made from vegetable waxes are not a new idea - in fact, colonial women were making candles from bayberries back in, well, colonial times. But extracting the wax from the bayberries was a tedious process, and quickly fell out of favor. From that point, most candles available were made with animal products - tallow, spermacetti (from sperm whales) or beeswax.
 What Are Soy Candles Made From?
Soy candles are made from hydrogenated soy bean oil. They're a relatively new type of candle, being invented in 1991 by Michael Richards. He had been working with beeswax, but was searching for a less expensive wax to work with. Realizing that demand was growing for natural wax products, he combined soy wax with other plant waxes such as coconut and palm.
What Are Soy Candles' Advantages?
Candles made with soy have a lot of advantages over candles made with most other products. In this environmentally conscious age, soy candles satisfy that urge to "go green," providing atmosphere and ambience without burning petroleum-based wax. They're made from a totally renewable resource, produced in the United States, and don't add to the CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
Soy wax melts at a cooler temperature than many other waxes. This means that a larger melt pool forms around the wick, sending more of those delicious fragrances out into your atmosphere. That's the reason for soy candles having a stronger scent-throw. And they last longer, too - over twice as long as a comparably-sized paraffin candle!
Have you ever spilled melted wax from a paraffin candle? What a mess! It's almost impossible to clean, especially if it spills on furniture or carpets (and doesn't it always?). With a soy candle, though, all you have to do is grab some hot water and soap and you're good to go.
What are soy candles' health benefits? Can one candle really be healthier than another? Yes, definitely, and this is one of the best advantages of burning candles made with soy over paraffin candles. Soy candles burn 95% soot-free, meaning there won't be any black gunk on your candle container, your walls or your ceiling. And if there's no soot on your walls, that means there's no soot in your lungs. If you'd like to know more about the health benefits of soy candles, click here.
You'll find soy candles available in just about any form you're used to - containers, pillars, votives, and melts (or flameless candles). If you haven't tried a soy candle yet, why not try one today for a superior candle-burning experience?
Sign Up to Win a FREE Candle!
Would you like to win a free 16 oz. gourmet scented candle AND a wonderful bar of rich soy soap? Enter my FREE weekly drawing to win - the drawing is held every Monday. You can even sign up every single day to increase your chances of winning! It's my way of saying "thanks" for stopping by my site and spending some time. So click here to enter my free candle drawing! And good luck (let me know if you win)!
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