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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CANDLES : Candles can be traced back as early as biblical times. For many years they were the main source of light for peoples' homes. Many early Greek and Roman candles were made of flax thread coated with wax and pitch, while in other countries candles were made of palm oil, coconut oil, beeswax and olive oil. In England bayberry wax was refined for use in making candles. The earliest dipped candles were made of tallow. Not until the early 1800's was paraffin made to replace tallow as the main ingredient for candle making. Electricity has since replaced the candle as an important source of light, but the candle is still important today for its role in decoration on festive occasions, for the calm and sanctity it evokes in religious ceremonies, and for the general mood of warmth, relaxation, and even romance it creates in our homes. While candles were used in the past as a source of light, they are now used as a source of home decor, fragrance and just to set a pleasant relaxing mood. Many people use candles every day as a way to pamper themselves and add a special touch to their homes .Candles come in all shapes, sizes and types. From paraffin and gel to beeswax and soy, candles can be found in quite an assortment of materials. If used properly, a quality made candle can enhance your environment and provide a source of pleasure, set a romantic mood, light up your dinner table or even help remove offensive odors from your home.

"Triple Scented Candles": Actually the term "triple scented" is subjective, different people have differing opinions on it. It's all a matter of personal judgment, some scents will smell stronger than others with less usage, and some will not really smell any stronger with more usage. It just depends on the particular fragrance. Triple scented is basically a marketing term used to make a product sound more appealing, or give the impression that the product smells stronger than others on the market. Not that there is anything wrong with creative or enticing marketing strategies, that's part of business and selling products. Some people believe in it and some people think it's a hogwash term.

The difference between a vegetable wax and a paraffin (petroleum-based wax):There have been several misconceptions floating around (especially on the internet) regarding paraffin waxes vs. vegetable-based waxes. Many proponents of vegetable waxes are making extravagant claims about their superiority to paraffin. It is important to realize that both are safe, viable “natural” raw materials with differing chemical compositions thus offering many varied benefits depending on end user applications. Both paraffin and vegetable waxes occur naturally.

• Vegetable crude oils are extracted from plant matter. These vegetable crude oils are further refined and subsequently hydrogenated to form a partially or fully hydrogenated vegetable oil thereby increasing the wax content of the refined vegetable oil. Hydrogenation is a process where hydrogen is reacted with the vegetable oil in the presence of a catalyst. Hydrogenation raises the melt point of vegetable oils, and hardens them, making them suitable for use in candles (this is also how margarine and shortenings are made from vegetable oils). Some of the compounds formed during the hydrogenation process do not occur naturally.
  • Paraffin waxes occur naturally as components of crude mineral oil. Paraffin waxes are produced by refining or separating the waxes out of the crude mineral oils.

As vegetable wax proponents seek to establish market share, there is a misconception that it must be done at the expense of paraffin waxes. Various manufacturers who utilize vegetable wax materials, have launched aggressive marketing campaigns designed to “disqualify” and “discredit” petroleum wax. Unfortunately, their negative publicity campaign has resulted in numerous misconceptions and generally unsupported scientific claims being promoted. It is important to clarify that both paraffin and vegetable-based waxes have been found to be biodegradable, safe, and effective when used in well-designed product systems. Information was found at http://www.igiwax.com

Is Soy Better: The truth is, depending on the candle maker and the candle "user" there is not one wax that is better than the other. Some of you have heard that soy is all natural, but, soy itself is natural, but when you add a wick and scent (fragrance oil), it is no longer natural. But is all natural always better? Not necessarily -There is a lot of all natural things on this planet that will kill you just as easily as some man made products - often with a lot more suffering. Even worse, many all natural items are pretty harmless in one form but deadly in another. A good example is poison ivy - a skin irritant for most folks, but inhaling fumes from burning poison ivy is often fatal. Poppies is another example- a popular condiment for baked goods, but make heroin from them and they can be deadly. Many people forget that paraffin is also a by-product of a natural resource, neither one of the waxes is man-made. One comes from deep under-ground (paraffin), and the other is grown (soy). Aside from helping our farmers, both come from a natural resource, both create carbon-monoxide when burned (can't see or smell it) so the claim on soy being the only clean burning candle is false. Some of you may have heard that soy are sootless candles, but, if you don't keep the wick trimmed it can cause soot. Has anyone ever tipped their soy candles just enough for the flame to touch the glass for say a minute or two to see if any soot does appear? AS SOON AS YOU LIGHT A FLAME, THERE IS SOOT! Keep in mind that soy wax is subject to some processing because the beans have to be rendered into wax. Common sense is that paraffin candles have been being burned for decades and someone would have heard about it by now on a large scale if there were any serious problems. Technically, nothing we burn is probably "good" for us to breathe. And yes, if you add synthetic dyes and fragrances to soy wax it is no longer "all natural". Let's face it... most of the products we use today are likely bad for us to some degree, such as household cleaners, hair spray, air fresheners, etc. How it affects each person would depend on the level of use or exposure, period of time the products are used for, and the sensitivity of the person. Some people can use scented products for a lifetime and never experience any problems from it, while another person may only use a scented product for a few months and find they develop asthmatic symptoms and must stop using it. Everyone is different, and there's no way to predict how each will react. It all ends up being a matter of opinion. You can find articles or statements from "experts" or companies to support both sides... in the end it's up to you to decide what you believe.

General Properties of Paraffin Wax: Paraffin Wax is a natural product derived from the molecular components of decayed vegetable and animal material. Paraffin wax consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with the following general properties.
• Non-reactive
• Non-toxic
• Good water barrier
• Clean-burning fuel
• Colorless
Paraffin waxes are characterized by a clearly defined crystal structure and have the tendency to be hard and brittle. The melt point of paraffin waxes generally falls between 120° and 160°F. Information was found at http://www.igiwax.com

Petroleum Wax Overview: Petroleum wax is ultimately derived from crude oil. Obtained from the ground, crude oil is a compositionally varied product, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons. Another name for crude oil is fossil fuel. Crude oil is transported to refineries where it is refined into finished products by complex processes. One of the many products derived from refining is lubricating oil. It is from the lube oil refining process that petroleum waxes are derived. There are three general categories of petroleum wax that are obtained from lube oil refining. They include paraffin, microcrystalline and petrolatum. Paraffin waxes are derived from the light lubricating oil distillates. Paraffin waxes contain predominantly straight-chain hydrocarbons with an average chain length of 20 to 30 carbon atoms. Information was found at http://www.igiwax.com

Paraffin Candles and Toxins: These are just wild claims and scare tactics to get people to buy a different product. How long have candles been around anyway? This used to be the way people lit their homes years ago, along with other kerosene and oils to burn. Paraffin wax is a natural product derived from the molecular components of decayed vegetable and animal material. It is non-reactive, non-toxic, a clean-burning fuel, and colorless. As vegetable wax proponents seek to establish market share, there is a misconception that it must be done at the expense of paraffin waxes. Various manufacturers who utilize vegetable wax materials, have launched aggressive marketing campaigns designed to “disqualify” and “discredit” petroleum wax. Unfortunately, their negative publicity campaign has resulted in numerous misconceptions and generally unsupported scientific claims being promoted. It is important to clarify that both paraffin and vegetable-based waxes have been found to be biodegradable, safe and effective when used in well-designed product systems. Paraffin is also used in food applications and in food packaging which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Even crayons are made with paraffin wax. Promoting soy as a healthy alternative to paraffin is not only a lie, it's a violation of Federal truth-in-advertising laws.

Zinc Core Wicks and Lead: There are some very important guidelines that need to be followed in order to safely use these products. As a consumer, you need to educate yourself on the products you are using, and make sure you are using them properly.

Bad Press: You may have seen some reports on your local T. V. news channel, local newspaper, or even on the internet recently making generalized claims that candles are unsafe Not true! The truth is, you have not been given all the facts. Here are a few common misconceptions about candles:

• Claim: "All candle wicks with a wire in the middle contain lead"
• Truth: Wrong! Lead core wicks were discontinued and have not been manufactured in the United States for several years. The wire cores used today are most commonly made of Zinc, and some are tin, both of which are safe to burn and only contain trace elements of lead impurities. Zinc has a maximum Lead content is 0.004%. Note: Any nonferrous metal will have similar trace elements of Lead.
• Claim: "Any candle with metal in the wick is unsafe to burn"
• Truth: Not true! Research shows that zinc and tin wicks are safe and pass the EPA's air quality tests. A person would have to burn over 3,000 candles with zinc wicks for four hours a day to exceed the EPA's air quality standard for lead.
• Claim: "Candles with lead wicks have recently been found on store shelves"
• Truth: Sad but true. Some imported candles that contain lead wicks manufactured in other countries are still being allowed into the U.S. and are being sold in our American stores. We support a full ban on any import candle products that contain lead, and we urge consumers to avoid any stores that carry these products. You as a consumer can help by letting store owners know how you feel about these low quality imports, and encourage them to carry only quality U.S. made candle products.

Ear Candling: This is an article about why ear candling is not a good idea, written by Lisa M.L. Dryer, M.D. click here for her article on the quackwatch website.

Candles and Cancer: Please, don't let some peoples marketing hype get you all riled up. In my opinion much of the anti paraffin hype out there is largely exaggeration, assumptions and opinion. The truth is, ANYTHING you burn in your home is likely not good for you. Most candles contain synthetic fragrance chemicals and dyes, whether they are soy wax or paraffin. Everything that burns makes smoke to some degree (even if you can't see it), and smoke isn't good for us to breathe, not just candles but incense too. And then there are all of the household cleaning products we use every day in our homes...most contain chemicals as well as synthetic fragrances. Some contain strong harsh chemicals like bleach, etc. Some are aerosol sprays which are bad for our lungs. We humans do many things and use many products that we know are not good for us. The truth is I don't think there's any way yet for scientists to say for sure if burning candles for so many years will actually kill us, especially when there are so many other outside influences contributing to our bad health. People breathe in residue from cooking oils and things used in their food, they burn fireplaces both gas and wood, oil lamps, incense, candles, chemical air fresheners and sprays, etc. Every person is different, our bodies are not all the same, and some people react to things differently than others. Some people are chemical sensitive and could end up having chemical or fragrance related health problems while other people may never have a problem from it. We can't always predict what will hurt us, or know exactly how much of it might hurt us, and that's one of the everyday risks in life.