Everything You Need To Know About Beeswax Candles – And More

Beeswax candles are made from all natural ingredients made by honeybees. When bees eat honey, they produce this wax. Beekeepers filter the beeswax from the honeycombs, cool it and sell it for use in making candles. Beeswax candles are the most natural candles that you can buy. They are available as taper candles, votives, tea lights and pillar candles. For those with sensitive allergies, beeswax candles allow them to enjoy the warmth and beauty of a burning candle.

You don’t need to add any scent to a bees wax candle because the wax is naturally scented with honey. Therefore beeswax candles rarely have any additives and this includes color. The natural yellow color adds to the ambiance of a bees wax taper candle and the scent of honey will perfume the air. Like soy candles, bees wax candles burn longer and cleaner than paraffin candles. However, one of the disadvantages of using bees wax taper candles is that they cost more than soy or paraffin candles.

The wax used in making beeswax candles can vary from white to a light brown. In some cases, candle makers may add bleach to the wax to lighten the color of the bees wax. Candles that have been bleached may not have as much of a honey scent to them, but you won’t be able to smell the scent of bleach. The bleach also helps to filter the beeswax. A candle made from unfiltered bees wax may contain small bits of wood or even parts of the bees.

Over time, you may notice that there is a white powder on the outside of your beeswax candles. This does not mean that the bees wax candles are no longer any good. The development of this powder is a natural occurrence with beeswax taper candles and is called blooming. You can easily wipe the powder off of the beeswax candle. It is actually a good thing for this to happen because it will tell you that your bees wax taper candles have been made from pure beeswax.

If you like making your own candles, beeswax candles are the easiest ones to make at home. Beeswax is sold in sheets and you don’t have to bother with any additives, colors or candle scents. The bees wax that you buy is already filtered so you don’t need to bother with bleaching it. All you have to do is melt down the bees wax and pour it into your molds to have the perfect beeswax candles.

To find out more about Candles visit Peter’s Website Your Hot Candles and find out about Soy Candles and more, including Custom Candles, Floating Candles and Scented Candles

Candles - Why People are Making Their Own

Candles are very cheap: you can get hundreds of small candles in a bag for the price of a Happy Meal, and the bigger ones aren’t much more expensive. When it’s so easy to just buy your candles in a shop, why on earth would you want to make candles yourself?

Well, that’s like asking why you’d want to do a painting yourself when you could buy a print and put it in a frame. Candle making is an art, with often beautiful results, not to mention the fun time you can have while you’re making the candles.

Candle making today belongs thoroughly in the arts and crafts category, which means that you can get all the equipment and waxes you’ll need from your local crafts shop.

To make a candle, all you really need to do is get some wax and melt it in a pan (you can even use wax from mass-produced candles if you can’t find any plain wax). Once the wax is melted, you can add dye if the wax isn’t already coloured. Then just put the wick (the string that burns) into a mould, pour in the wax and leave it to set. Again, if you can’t get a real candle mould, you can improvise with disposable household objects, such as half a milk carton or some other kind of bottle.

Of course, that basic method is just the beginning. Once you’ve got that down, you can start mixing different coloured waxes, and using more complicated moulds, and even adding things like glitter and other decoration. You can add small objects like shiny pebbles into the hot wax, or even cover larger objects in wax to make them into big candles. If you need more inspiration, the chances are that the craft shop (or the library) will have books about candle making, with more in-depth ‘recipes’ that you can either follow directly or incorporate in your own designs.

John Gibb is the owner of candle-making guides For more information on candle - making please check out http://www.candle-making-guide4u.info

Health Benefits of Soy Candles

Soy is everywhere these days, including in your milk, chips, nuts, and even burgers adding health benefits through and through, now it seems soy is also in your candles. Soy wax candles are a new and emerging type of candle the offers great benefits to those candle heads in the world that can’t live without fresh aroma burning each and every day in their homes.

“If it lasts longer it’s okay with me” said a friend of mine once during a casual dinner. Take that comment for what you will, my friend could’ve meant a variety of things by it, but in general consumers prefer long lasting items to those that are short in life span. Soy candles last 30 to 50 percent longer then traditional candles. Your average 14 oz candle, similar to a Yankee candle large size, will last about 75 hours. If you were to have that candle be a soy candle, it would last over 100 hours and smell just as sweet as the traditional candles do.

Traditional candles are known to cause soot in and around the general area they are burning. For those that aren’t familiar with our friend soot, think grayish black smoky smelling fog that clouds the top of your candle jar, on your walls, and even on ones ceiling. Soot is caused by the toxic elements in the traditional candles that are released when ignited. Soy candles are all natural and do not contain any toxins, thus no soot will come of them.

Carcinogens are released into the air when a traditional candle is burning. Carcinogens can cause cancer, and other health related problems. New research is showing links between candles, charcoal, and other burning devices we use in our home lives as cancer causing. Research is just beginning on this issue; however it is a fact that soy candles do not produce carcinogens. When thinking about buying soy candles think of the old cliché, better safe than sorry.

Clark Covington provides tips and information on soy candles and gel candles for Candles 4U - your guide to candles and candlemaking.

Are Everyday Candles Destroying Your Home And Health?

Did you know that most candles are made from the sludge in the bottom of a barrel of oil which is bleached and texturized with a chemical called acrolein?

They’re called paraffin candles and burning one puts all the same horrible toxins and carcinogens (cancer causing agents) into the air in your home that burning diesel fuel in your home would.

The National Candle Association estimates that more than 7 million people in the US alone burn candles every year.

But testing by the EPA has confirmed that those candles, and the smoke and soot they give off, contain several dangerous chemicals in significant quantities. These chemicals include known or probable carcinogens, neurotoxins and reproductive toxins.

The American Lung Association also warns that burning paraffin candles can emit toxins (in measurable amounts) into your home’s air.

It might shock you to learn that after burning just a few paraffin candles in your home, the overall effect on the quality of the air in your home could be worse than the air in major cities like Los Angeles!

Not only is your health affected, but the health of your pets and children as well.

Cathy Flanders who has been at the forefront of addressing health and safety issues involving candles says, “With the current ‘candle-craze’ and increased candle burning in homes, expectant Moms need to be aware of the fact that the emissions from some candles are toxic, reproductive toxins, neuro-toxins and/or carcinogens. This has been a growing cause for concern for the EPA and children’s health agencies.”

And it might hit your pocket book soon too. Not only is the price of oil spiraling out of control, but you might have a nasty surprise the next time you go to renew your homeowners insurance.

The NIA Group (Insurance and Financial Services) lists the following problems with paraffin candles in an article on their website:

They go on to say…

“Another surprise is that the candle-making industry is not required to tell consumers about the ingredients used in their products, including when a wick is used which contains a lead core.”

No one knows for sure if paraffin candles cause cancer, but there are at least 4 cancer-causing chemicals associated with paraffin candles.

The EPA lists these chemicals on their website:

Would you burn animal fat in your home?

Most of us would answer an emphatic “No!” or “Yuck!” to that question, but like something straight out of a horror movie, you might react in horror to realize that you probably are burning animal fat in your home when you burn paraffin candles.

That’s because many paraffin candles contain large amounts of animal fats to give them a more textured or rustic look.

So what’s the alternative?

Believe it or not, the answer comes from soybeans.

The soy plant produces a waxy substance that not only burns cooler, but can burn up to 50% longer than paraffin wax.

Since soy wax is derived from plants, it’s a renewable resource that’s a pleasure for candle makers to work with.

Some of the surprising benefits of soy candles include:

* Burn with no toxins, carcinogens or choking soot.
* Burn up to 50% longer than paraffin candles.
* Cruelty-free, contain no animal fats.
* Non-toxic, biodegradable, derived from a renewable resource.
* Cleans up easily with soap and hot water.
* Better for the environment.
* Use no nasty chemicals to release fragrance.
* Supports the American farmer - not foreign oil.

As more and more people learn about the harmful effects of burning paraffin candles in their homes, they’re substituting soy candles with surprising results.

Karen Key, a mother of three in Washington state, had this to say,

“I’m asthmatic and when I burn paraffin candles in my home, or get around smoke or perfumy scents, my airway closes down and I start to panic. So I was more than a little nervous when a friend lit a scented soy candle in front of me. I have to say I’m completely amazed. Shocked is a better word. With soy candles I now have no problem breathing and I can finally enjoy the beauty and magic of candles in my home once again!”

So the next time you want to create a warm, inviting, and romantic atmosphere in your home, don’t destroy your home - or your health, choose all-natural soy candles as a healthy alternative.

To learn more about the dangers of paraffin candles you can go to any of the following websites:

http://www.epa.gov
http://www.soycandlemaker.biz
http://www.scorecard.org
http://www.webref.org
http://www.fpinva.org

To reach the author or SoyCandleMaker, learn more about soy candles or start your own fun and highly profitable soy candle making business go to:

http://www.soycandlemaker.biz
“The most fun you’ll have making money!”

You can also download a free ebook on the topic at:
http://www.soycandlemaker.biz/freeebook.html