Candle Making Wax and How It Killed Tigers |
|
By: Lydia Elmworth Posted: 2010-10-12 08:08:27 |
| An increasing number of folks are pouring into the hobby of making candles. People enjoy doing crafts with children, like the challenge of a new pastime, and benefit from making cost-effective homemade gifts with a personal touch.The upshot to the surge in interest is a veritable transformation of candle making wax. Manufacturers are becoming more creative, and broadening their product lines, in an effort to meet demand. This only feeds the revolving door, whereupon hobbyists take their masterpieces to the boundaries of ingenuity never previously considered.Consequently, the newest candle-making hobbyist will find that he or she has a number of candle making wax options to choose from. By and large, the predominant variety of candle making wax used is paraffin wax with a petroleum base. This is widely available and quite inexpensive.Beyond paraffin wax, you will typically see a natural wax in use, such as one from palm, soy, bayberry, or vegetables. Soy candle making wax is perhaps the one growing fastest in popularity. Soybeans are widely available, largely grown in the central United States, and the wax is generated readily by hydrogenating the beans.There are some alternative candle making was options that have had mixed press. As an example, palm-based wax was a huge hit in recent times. In response, places like Indonesia and Malaysia were steadily depleting massive acres of rainforest so they could plant palm trees. With that deforestation came a threat to indigenous, already-threatened species such as the Sumatran tiger, rhinos, and orangutans. The scale of the danger was so large that WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) began RSPO in order to onset best practices for sustaining the palm tree plantations. The good news now is that you can actually purchase palm candle making wax that was grown with these eco-friendly principles in place.Candle making wax can be derived from other natural materials besides plants. Alongside the increased popularity of palm and bayberry wax, interest in the use of beeswax has surged too. Beeswax can be obtained in both yellow and white, giving you flexibility of color. Note that this may cost more money than other options, but I believe it can be worth it. Beeswax has the added benefit of smelling rather fragrant. It's a hardy material that burns quite nicely.Another exciting option is gel candle making wax. The "gel" is actually a clear, rubber-like material that functions as a wax would. The neat thing about gel is that it's available in a few different "densities." What this does is allow you to choose the gel based on the type of candle you want to make. On the one hand, you can use a low density gel to pour at a lower temperature that works great on candles with up to about a 3% fragrance count. On the other hand, if you want a candle with a heavier degree of fragrance, you can use a higher density gel.In the end, the great news is that you now have more choices than ever when selecting a candle making wax to initiate your new-found hobby. This will allow you to have greater results, since you can tailor your selection more precisely to the outcome you want. And, as we know, to best control the end result you must control the process.Want more useful candle making wax information? Lydia Elmworth is a Candle Making enthusiast and candle hobby aficionado. Visit her candle-making website at http://www.candlemakingdepot.com today and get your mini-course free! |
| Trackback url: https://article.abc-directory.com/article/7747 |