Soy Blend, Soy Based, Pure Soy, Natural Blend, Vegetable Based: what's the difference????
Well, we are glad you asked as there is a big difference, and one that a lot of people get fooled about!  It's all the rage these days:  Soy Blend, Natural Blend, Vegetable Blend, Vegetable Based, Plant Based, "Food Grade" and Soy Based candles are most often marketed as "Soy" or "Natural" candles, however, usually only contain a small proportion of actual soy wax.  You can claim to have a soy wax candle when only a small percentage of your candle contains any soy.  All of our Pure Soy candles are labeled "100% Soy" or "Pure Soy" and we recommend you only buy candles labeled as such is buying soy if important to you.  With that being said, we do have our own "Blend Candle", that is not 100% Soy, and we do not market it has Pure Soy--there are advantages to our own propietarty blend as well, so we choose to offer a variety.  While it seems that it is the trend these days to market a natural candle, we have been working with soy wax for over 8 years now and have used it from day one of opening our business.  The majority of our items are, and always have been, 100% soy.  Soy is very temperamental and requires a lot of testing, which is a huge expense for a candlemaker, that is why many manufacturers and candlemakers choose to use a hybrid wax as an alternative.

 

Are there limitations to Soy's Properties?
Yes, there are some limitations.  As with all wax, there is a limit to how much fragrance oil a wax will safely hold, this holds true for soy as well--however soy will typically hold a larger percentage of fragrance oil than typical wax.  There are some fragrance oils that simply do not "throw" well in soy wax, or that require an impractical "cure time".  It is also difficult to achieve deep vibrant colors with soy due to the flowering and frosting properties inherent with soy wax.  

 

Why is it important to trim the wicks?
Trimming the wicks is very important. Trimming the wicks will keep the candle burning with minimal  soot and it will give your candle a longer burn time. What happens when you do not trim the wicks properly? When a wick gets too long it cannot draw wax all the way up to the top of the wick. Therefore, the wick itself will start to burn. Even with 100% cotton wicks and petro-soot free Soy Wax, you will see some soot if your wicks start burning themselves.
IMPORTANT: You should not allow your candle to burn more than a couple of hours at a time without trimming the wicks. If you want to burn it longer you should extinguish the candle, then trim the wicks carefully and relight it. This will give you extra hours of clean burning. We recommend our Wick Trimmer for easy trimming!

 

Will my walls blacken or soot with soy?

Ideally, no.  However, please remember that this also depends on your maintenance of the wicks...if you keep your wicks properly trimmed, you should have very little to no soot, therefore no black residue all walls and furnishings.  It will also depend on how well the candle is made to burn properly and whether you have drafts in the area.  Using a melt pot or tart burner, especially an electric one, should not blacken your walls.

 

Can I use a candle warmer?
Yes you can!  Please heed the warnings on the bottom label, then try to remove as much of the bottom label as possible.  Warmers have been known to blacken bottom labels.  We do make our own "Wickless Candles" that offer a short wide candle for easy use on a warmer--and the label is on the inside of the lid, not the bottom of the jar.

 

Are these "massage candles"?
The International Guild of Candle Artisans and the National Candle Association strongly recommend against marketing any candle as a massage candle due to the inherent risks of burn associated with hot wax.  We are a member of both of these associations and adhere to their safety recommendations.  While it is true that soy candles due generally burn cooler than other candles, and that some soy candles can easily be massaged into the skin, not all fragrance oils or colors are skin safe and may cause extreme irritation.  We recommend that you never dip your fingers or use a candle for wax massage when the flames are lit.

 

Do soy candles' color fade?
Some of them do, yes. In order to keep the ingredients of the candles as natural as possible, these candles do not contain ultra-violet inhibitors. Therefore, some of the colors will fade over time. We recommend that customers keep candles in a cool and dry place when not in use. Most fading occurs when candles are exposed to direct sunlight. "Flowering" or whitening of the soy wax is a common occurence caused by extreme temperature or pressure fluctuations. The fragrance of the candle is not affected, and the color will blend as it melts in the wax pool.