Purchasing wax???

[cocoon]

I want to take a shot at the candle making and would like to buy some wax. I am really interested in bees wax and/or soy. I want to know if paraffin is good. What keeps the best? I also want to know where I could find the scents rose, white tea, and lemon grass? Please help!!! :?:

 

[Lynnz]

Hi Soywax is a beautiful product to work with and a good choice to be starting off with. I am a candlemaker from 15yrs back and then Paraffin was pretty much all we had so I still make paraffin pillars and votives. I have very little experience with beeswax but used to added a small percentage to my parrafin to increase the hardness of the wax.
You have some great choices as far as suppliers go in the USA and for advice supply and information one I woud recommend is this

http://newcart.candlesandsupplies.com/S ... fault.aspx

Best wishes in your candling experiences Lyn

 

[cocoon]

thanks

Hey thanks for the quick response, I was thinkin that soy might be right for me to start, glad I asked. Would love to see some pictures of your work.

 

[tomara]

Dear Cocoon,

May I suggest a candle kit in Soy or Paraffin to learn with. It usually has all the components you need to start making candles. I know Peaks makes a good one, and I am sure there are many others that others can suggest. Beeswax candles are very nice, but the cost of wax is quite a bit higher than Soy or Paraffin in my experience. Good luck on your new craft

 

[soapbuddy]

Shipping wax cross country could be expensive. Which state are you in?

 

[cocoon]

I thought of a kit. I may try it that way. I am in California.

 

[soapbuddy]

I thought of a kit. I may try it that way. I am in California.

I think GenWax is in California.

 

[Catmehndi]

You might want to decide too whether you want to stay all natural or not. Soy is a lot friendlier to good ol'mother Earth. :wink:

 

[carebear]

Yanno, I'm not convinced about the soy wax is better thing. Seriously. Farming soy is not without impact on the environment (pesticides and fertilizers are used, etc.), processing it including the hydrogenation takes all sorts of energy, and there is the shipping and what not. I'm really not sure how the equation balances out.

Plus for some reason, people feel it's ok to pour soy wax in their drains. ANY oil down your drains is bad for the environment - water processing plants have a hard time dealing with it.

Soy and paraffin are equal when it ocmes to the prdoucts of combustion and toxicity.

Beeswax - yea, I don't know where that falls out either LOL. Cept it makes me feel good to burn it for some reason.

 

[Microdot]

I'm only a hobbyist in regards to candle making, I make them as gifts. My preferred wax is beeswax, I love it. Keep in mind with 100% beeswax candles you will need to purchase silicone or rubber molds, it's super sticky and will want to cling to anything it's poured into. These molds tend to be on the pricey side, but I'm addicted to beeswax and the cost is worth the satisfaction of being able to create in this medium. To help reduce costs you can do a paraffin and beeswax mixture, as long as you don't exceed a 50/50 ratio with the waxes you could probably use the less expensive plastic molds if you spray with a silicone mold release. I can't give any suggestions about soy waxes as I've never used them.

I can't really help with scents as I don't usually scent my beeswax, I love its natural scent. Since I don't buy in large quantities (I use less than 50 pounds of wax a year), I usually purchase my wax from Ebay. I don't have an economical local source, and a few times a year I come across a great deal and jump on it. Hope this helps.

Dotty

 

[soapbuddy]

If you decide to go with soy be aware that soy wax is picky about which fragrances you use. Some fragrances throw great in paraffin or palm wax, but not so much in soy.

 

[wabeeman]

For those wanting to use beeswax I would suggest checking out your local farmer's market. You'll want to find a beekeeper who sells his/her own honey and is obviously proud of that. Watch out for posers. One dead give away (IMO) is if the honey they're selling is artificially flavored. None of the beekeepers I know, and I know many, would even think of "tainting" their honey with artificial flavors. Once that's established you can ask if they have any extra beeswax or know of a fellow beekeeper that does. Specifically you'll want cappings wax which yields colors ranging from a light yellow-white to a bright yellow (about emoticon color :wink: ). Brood wax is more taupe or brown in color, doesn't smell as nice (sometimes even foul) and doesn't burn as cleanly. Cappings wax smells sweet and clean.

 

[Catmehndi]

For those wanting to use beeswax I would suggest checking out your local farmer's market. You'll want to find a beekeeper who sells his/her own honey and is obviously proud of that. Watch out for posers. One dead give away (IMO) is if the honey they're selling is artificially flavored. None of the beekeepers I know, and I know many, would even think of "tainting" their honey with artificial flavors. Once that's established you can ask if they have any extra beeswax or know of a fellow beekeeper that does. Specifically you'll want cappings wax which yields colors ranging from a light yellow-white to a bright yellow (about emoticon color :wink: ). Brood wax is more taupe or brown in color, doesn't smell as nice (sometimes even foul) and doesn't burn as cleanly. Cappings wax smells sweet and clean.

awesome info! Thank you!!