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History of Soy Candles
The
history of Soy Candles is an interesting exploration of the soy candle
development. Soy candles are a relatively new type of candle. Candles made
from other natural wax mediums including beeswax and bayberry wax have
been around for centuries. Soy candles are made from the natural wax from
the vegetable, soybean. Most likely, at one time or another, in your
life you have eaten soybeans in some form. For example, numerous vegetable
shortenings contain hydrogenated soybean oil. These vegetable shortenings
are used to deep fry vegetables, and to make pastries and breads. Soy wax is
a similar product that is specifically used for candles and more recently in
soaps, lotions and bath products.
Soy Candle
Wax in its initial form is considered by some to be edible; however, Soy
Candle Cottage, uses soy wax specifically for all natural candles.
First reference for a soy wax
candle is noted by a group of college students in 1996 from Purdue
University. The students developed a birthday candle using soybean
oil and won first place in a competition sponsored by the Indiana Soybean
Development Council and Purdue's Department of Agronomy.
Since the
first soy candle in 1996, many exciting changes have taken place with soy
wax. Many candle makers prefer "pure or 100%" soy wax while other candle
makers prefer soy wax with cottonseed oil. Still other candle manufacturers
prefer a mix of soy wax with beeswax, palm wax, or even paraffin.
The nicest
reward from burning a soy wax candle is the fact that it burns so clean and
does not produce black soot or smoke. Soy wax is biodegradable and cleans up
with plain old soap and water. Soy Candles burn much longer than paraffin
candles. Soy Candle Cottage uses soy wax made in the USA where soybeans are
grown by American Farmers. |
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The History of Soy Candles |
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1991 |
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In 1991 Michael Richards founded Candleworks
to manufacture beeswax candles. As he entered the candle industry with
beeswax products he realized there was a growing demand for natural wax
candles. However, there was a huge economic barrier. Namely, the cost of
beeswax was 10 times the cost of petroleum candle wax (paraffin). In July,
Michael Richards started experimenting with a wide range of plant waxes and
vegetable oils to find a natural wax that could be cost-competitive with
petroleum wax. He completed thousands of hours of tests with tropical plant
waxes such as carnauba and candelilla waxes, plus domestic oils such as corn
and soybean oil. |
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1992-1994 |
In 1992, this testing resulted in the first
vegetable wax candle, made from a blend of vegetable oils and natural waxes.
At that stage of development, the vegetable wax was hard and brittle. To
obtain a softer, more pliable wax, Michael started to acquire and test a
wider range of tropical and domestic plant oils. This included partially
hydrogenated coconut, palm, and soybean oils. Michael Richards continued
working on two parallel tracks: |
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Manufacturing beeswax candles
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Research and development for other
vegetable wax candles. In 1994 Michael started blending beeswax with
soybean oil to achieve an economical natural wax candle. |
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1995 |
The
Body Shop, a national chain of stores that was Candleworks’ main beeswax
candle customer, issued the first purchase orders for a line of natural wax
aromatherapy candles from Candleworks. For the first three months, the
content of the Body Shop candle wax was a blend of beeswax and almond oil.
Because of the increasingly high cost of almond oil, Michael then started
blending soybean oil with the beeswax. He completely replaced almond oil
with soybean oil in all commercial production of candles in May of 1995. |
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1996 |
Michael then experimented with various ranges of hydrogenated soybean oil to
eliminate the costly beeswax in his natural wax formula. In the fall of
1996, beeswax was no longer used. Instead, the candle wax developed and
utilized by Candleworks featured hydrogenated soybean oil as the majority
percentage of the candle formula. Other vegetable oils were then added in
minority portions to achieve specific cosmetic characteristics, such as a
smooth even surface and scent projection. Michael created low-melt soy wax
for container candles and a high-melt point wax for freestanding pillar
candles in 1996. |
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1996 |
With the goal of creating an edible birthday
cake candle, Purdue University students developed their own candle formula
using soybean oil. The candles won first place in a competition sponsored by
the Indiana Soybean Development Council and Purdue's Department of Agronomy. |
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1997 |
Candleworks negotiated with the University of Iowa to provide a chemical
engineering intern to test and document the new soy waxes developed by
Michael Richards. This resulted in a report prepared for the Iowa Department
of Agriculture and Land Stewardship titled: "Increasing the Use of Soybeans
in the Manufacturing of Candles". |
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1998 |
The
Indiana Soybean Board unveiled a brand of candles called Harvest Lights made
from soybeans at the Farm Progress Show. The development of these candles
was completely farmer-funded through the Soybean Checkoff program. This
formula has since been patented. |
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1999-2000 |
Documentation of Michael’s research process
on the development of natural plant-based waxes from 1991 through 1999 was
submitted to a patent law firm in Des Moines, Iowa (Mc Kee, Vorhees and
Sease). Formal application for patent pending status was presented to the
U.S. patent office the following year.
Soywax, a hydrogenated soybean oil that is used as renewable and
biodegradable alternative to paraffin wax in candle-making, was investigated
for its tendency of producing soot and potentially harmful organic volatiles
(e.g. acrolein, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde) during candle burning. While
a considerable amount of soot was produced from the combustion of paraffin
candles under disturbed condition (simulated air movement), little or none
was observed from soywax candles. Low level of formaldehyde was detected in
paraffin candle fume, but it was not present in significant quantity in the
soywax candle fume. Acrolein was not detected in either type of candles.
Soywax candles burned at a significantly lower rate than paraffin candles
did. Thermal, textural and combustion properties, such as melting and
solidification profiles, candle surface temperature distribution, hardness
and adhesiveness, and burning rate, of a hydrogenated vegetable oil were
also investigated. Effect of adding hydrogenated palm oil, free fatty acids,
and paraffin on these functional properties were quantified. For complete
technical information, please refer to the following two recent
publications.
Rezaei, K., T. Wang, and L. A. Johnson. Hydrogenated vegetable oils as
candle wax. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 79: 1241-1247 (2002).
Rezaei, K, T. Wang, and L.A. Johnson. Combustion characteristics of candles
made from hydrogenated soybean oil. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 79: 803-808
(2002). |
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2001 |
Cargill purchased intellectual property
rights in Michael's soy wax innovation. Cargill now manufactures soybean wax
formulas developed by Michael. MIchael continues to market the soy wax in
the industry and provide technical training for other candle manufacturers
in the use of soy wax. |
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2002 |
Michael Richards launched a nationwide guild of candle manufacturers called
“Village Chandler”. This guild is committed to the use of soy wax in candle
production. (At present there are more than 62 Village Chandlers in 17
states and Canada). |
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2003 |
This soy wax innovation is fast-becoming a
new national industry. Today, soy candles manufacturers range from numerous
entrepreneurs to major manufacturers. |
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©2003 Iowa Soybean Promotion Board |
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