Want to know what candles burn best?
Not all available waxes burn equally.
To get the most out of the candles you purchase, it’s a good idea to understand the factors that contribute to the "best burn".
In this article, we will be exploring several criteria to determine the quality of how a candle burns & provide our rankings of the best-performing waxes.
Why is having a high-quality wax important?
High-quality wax not only leads to longer burn times, ensuring you receive better value for your money (no one wants to buy an expensive candle that only lasts a few burns!), but it also leads to improved health outcomes compared to low-quality waxes.
Lighting a candle can release chemicals into the air that can potentially be dangerous to humans (American Chemical Society. 2009;). That being said, it is important to note that current research on this topic has been subject to scrutiny due to a lack of peer-reviewed evidence. It is also important to note, that of the studies that have claimed burning candle wax can be dangerous, it is also noted that not every wax is created equally. Multiple studies have shown that natural waxes produce the least amount of toxins (Lau et al. 1997;) (Olszowski, T., Kłos, A. 2013;)
What makes a candle wax high-quality?
To quantify what makes a candle wax high-quality we have 4 set criteria that we will expand on in this section. Subsequently, we will evaluate and rank each wax based on these 4 criteria to identify which wax is best.
How safe is the candle wax for my health?
We have touched on the research regarding the potential health implications that can arise from burning certain candle waxes. Although there is no conclusive evidence to support these claims it is always worth taking into consideration when purchasing a candle that some waxes burn much cleaner than others (and why take that risk on your health when you can be sure to choose a safer option).
Paraffin Wax
Credit: Forest Simon
Paraffin wax is a popular choice when it comes to making candles because it's cheaper and easier to use than other waxes. However, Paraffin wax is made using crude oil, the same oil that we use to make petroleum. As such, the by-products it creates when burned include a few unpleasant surprises, Including, but not limited to, Formaldehyde.
Now that might seem shocking to read at first glance. However, it must also be noted that, as previously stated there is no hard evidence that the by-products of paraffin will cause harm to your health in such small quantities.
Personally, we do not want to take that risk when other, much healthier options are available on the market. This is why for our health safety ranking, we have ranked paraffin wax at the very bottom.
Plant-based Wax
Plant-based waxes are among the most favourable waxes for health outcomes. Studies have shown that plant-based waxes produce significantly fewer toxins when burned compared to paraffin wax. However, this can be hard to provide you with quantifiable answers due to the large number of different plant-based waxes available.
Plant-based waxes include Soy, Coconut, Carnauba, and Candelilla, which are generally 100% natural unless the word ‘blend’ follows the name, e.g., soy blend is often a blend of soy wax and another wax, commonly paraffin.
In our health safety ranking system, we would place plant-based waxes in the middle. However, it must be stated that they lean closer to the top rank when compared to their distance from paraffin.
Beeswax
While beeswax and plant-based wax are nearly identical in this criteria, beeswax slightly outperforms plant-based wax. It is highly regarded for candle making due to its negligible to non-existent toxin release. This is why it takes the top spot in our health safety ranking.
Credit: Kelly Sikkema
How harmful is the wax to the environment?
People tend to overlook the environmental impact of different waxes when deciding what candles to buy. However, it is really important to consider the impact different waxes have on the environment. We all have a social responsibility to protect our planet and we must all strive to do this to the best of our ability.
Paraffin Wax
Paraffin wax is made from crude oil which means its impact on the environment is already substantial. I think you can already guess where this will be ranked in our assessment of these waxes. That's right! dead last. Crude oil significantly impacts air and water quality, leads to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and can result in the loss of wildlife, particularly in events such as oil spills.
Unfortunately, there is not much we can do to make paraffin wax better for the environment other than moving away from it. We can do our part by not purchasing products that contain crude oil and lobbying our governments to move towards renewable energy sources.
Plant-based Wax
Plant-based wax has been known over the years for its negative environmental impact. For example, Palm oil yields more oil per land area than any other comparable vegetable oil crop. This has led to its widespread use in our daily lives, including candle-making. However, the problem with palm wax arises from unsustainable deforestation practices, which result in the loss of habitat for species such as Orangutans, Pygmy Elephants, and Sumatran Rhinos.
This issue is not exclusive to the palm oil industry; it does apply to all plant-based waxes. However, not all hope is lost! when considering plant-based waxes it is vital to ensure that the product you are purchasing was sourced ethically and sustainably. To ensure the producers maintain strict sustainable practices the WWF, government organisations and suppliers have worked to form organisations such as the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) which focuses on developing and implementing global standards for sustainable palm oil.
What are they doing to make plant-based wax more sustainable? For example with the palm oil industry they have strict rules such as; no high conservation areas can be cleared for palm oil production (RSPO), In doing this they have also helped to remediate, protect and restore previous areas of deforestation.
Therefore, on assessment of how harmful plant-based waxes are to the environment we have ranked them both in joint last (when the wax is not sourced responsibly), and also joint first (when the wax is sourced sustainably).
Credit: Simone Millward
Beeswax
Unfortunately, beeswax is not exempt from its impact on the environment. The production of beeswax requires extensive commercial farming operations, which can have a negative impact on a hive's biodiversity. In large-scale farms, practices such as artificial insemination of the queen bee and transportation to different hives may be used. The mass breeding and large-scale transport of bees to different hive's can lead to increased risks of cross-contamination from pathogens and parasites. Additionally, commercial farms tend to replace the honey that the bees feed on with sugar substitutes, which generally lack the nutritional value of natural honey. This can have a serious impact on the health of the bees.
So, what can you do?
Not every bee farm is a large-scale commercial farm. Therefore, make sure you are buying your candles from a company that responsibly sources their beeswax from smaller, local beekeepers that are unlikely to carry out these harmful practices.
How long does the wax burn?
When it comes to purchasing a candle, you wouldn't want it to burn out after just a few uses. Well, the good news is most types of wax generally have a longer burn time. Nonetheless, some waxes are superior to others.
Paraffin Wax
During our research, we found that it takes approximately 60 hours to burn through a 400g paraffin wax candle on average. This is still a decent amount of time for a candle. However, it does rank last out of the three options.
Plant-based Wax
We also found that soy candles take approximately 68 hours to burn through a 400g candle on average. There are a lot of different types of plant-based candles so results may vary between them. However, they are generally slightly better than Paraffin.
Beeswax
Although we’ve established that beeswax appears to be superior in most, if not all, metrics, you might still be surprised to learn that it took an average of 78 hours to burn 400g of beeswax! This represents a significant 15% increase in burn time compared to soy wax.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this blog post has shown you which wax is the best choice for a long-lasting, clean burn.
From our analysis, it’s clear that beeswax stands out as the top performer in all three categories: health safety, environmental impact, and burn time.
On the other hand, plant-based wax takes the middle ground. It performs well in terms of health safety and burn time. However, its environmental impact can vary significantly depending on where it is sourced. When sourced sustainably, plant-based wax ranks almost as well as beeswax on all three criteria.
Lastly, paraffin wax ranks last in all categories. Despite its widespread use, it has a negative impact on the environment, doesn’t burn as long as the other two and although the jury is still out on its impact on our health, do you really want to take that risk when other alternatives are significantly better?
Remember, the choice of wax can greatly influence not only the quality of your candle but also its impact on your health and the environment. So, choose wisely!
What makes Solaire Candles a great option?
At Solaire Candles we have conducted extensive research and testing across all three categories and chosen what we feel is a great alternative to traditional candles. We chose a plant-based wax.
You may be wondering, if beeswax performed so well, why didn't we opt to make our candles from beeswax? During our testing, we performed equal to better across all three categories: health safety, environmental impact, and burn time.
Solaire candle wax is 100% natural, emitting minimal to no soot or toxins compared to traditional waxes.
We chose for our candle wax to be made from a plant-based wax with both quality and sustainability in mind. We have rigorously vetted suppliers across Australia to ensure our wax is not only ethically sourced but also contributes to sustainable practices.
Our unique candle wax formulation is designed to maximize burn time, testing shows on average our candle wax burns for 87 hours per 400g of candle wax!
Choosing Solaire Candles means choosing a product that respects both your desire for a long-lasting, high-quality candle and your commitment to health and environmental responsibility.
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