What is the difference between all of the waxes?

Deciding you want to start making candles is the easy part.  Figuring out what you need and how to do it is a little more complicated.

To get you started, we explain in simple terms, the differences between each of the candle waxes.

Soy Wax

This wax is biodegradable, sustainable and clean burning.  It comes in two basic forms - container and pillar.  Container wax is soft and 'sticks' to jars and other vessels, whilst pillar soy is harder and comes out of moulds and is designed to burn standing on its own.

We offer several types of soy.

GW 464 -  used for container candles.  It has great glass adhesion and scent throw.  464 has a soy monoglyceride added to help with frosting and glass adhesion

SoyaLuna Container - this is a relative new comer to the market and offers a wonderful alternative for those looking for smooth tops, particularly after burning.  It has great scent throw, excellent glass adhesion and virtually no frosting.  SoyaLuna has a small amount of paraffin blended with it to give smooth tops, excellent scent throw and no frosting.  An excellent and easy to use soy wax all round

GW 444 - this container soy has other natural vegetable oils added to it to assist in glass adhesion, scent throw and frosting.  It has a higher melt point than 464 which assists in candles holding their shape and form during warmer weather.  It is a little more difficult to work with and is recommended for more experienced candle makers

GW 415 - this container soy is 100% pure soy with no additives of any kind.  As such, it can be very difficult to work with to achieve smooth tops and no frosting.  Choose this wax if you are willing to put the time in to it and if you want a 100% pure soy wax.

GW 416 - this soy is used more as an additive to other waxes.  It can be used to harden the other waxes, raising their melt points.  It can also be used as a tart wax however we also have specific waxes for this purpose.

GW 494 - this tart/melt wax is specifically formulated to be harder so it will release from moulds.  It can be used in aluminium pillar moulds and also silicone moulds.

SoyaLuna melt/pillar - this wax is our recommended wax for use in aluminium moulds, acrylic moulds and silicone moulds.  It releases very easily and has a beautiful, creamy and smooth finish.  It rarely frosts and burns beautifully.

Scoopable melt wax - this ACS product is an easy to use, pre-made base.  It is easily customised with fragrance and colour ready to onsell.

Palm wax - Palm wax is a very lovely and unique wax made from hydrogenated palm oil.  Sourced from sustainable suppliers (RSPO) this wax produces very interesting and unique patterns when dried. 

It comes in three types.  Feathering and crystallising palm wax are hard waxes and are designed for us in aluminium pillar moulds.  The candles are designed to stand alone when burning.  Feathering palm wax has a pattern like feathers as the name suggests whereas crystallising has a starburst type of pattern.

Crystallising container wax has the same pattern of its cousin (crystallising pillar) but it is designed for glassware, not as a standalone pillar.

Beeswax - this natural wax is sourced from a local apiary.  It has a lovely honey smell and is a rich yellow colour making it perfect for natural candles.  Beeswax is much harder to burn than soy so wicking needs to start at least two sizes up from soy wick recommendations.

If you are looking for beeswax for cosmetic preparations, then we recommend our white and yellow pellets.  These pellets have undergone more stringent refining making them more suitable for cosmetic use.

Paraffin pillar wax - a multiple pour wax suitable for use in moulds and tart shells.

Massage Candle Blend - this is an ACS formulation and is a ready to go base to use 'as is' or with fragrance and dye added.  It is a softer wax with a lower melt point, made with high quality oils for use as a massage oil once warmed.