Why Coco Apricot Wax is Better Than Soy
What Makes Soy Candles “Bad”?
Did you know that when scented soy candles are burnt they release formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, toluene, benzene, and acetone, carcinogens that can lead to cancer and other health problems?
Yes, you read that right.
Soy Is Not A Natural Wax
It is a heavy metal hydrogenated oil. 96% of soybeans grown globally are Monsanto genetically- modified (GMO) soybeans. Plus, there is a huge amount of pesticides and other chemicals being used in soybean farming which may stay with soy when processed. Many soy candles add palm oil to make them firm/hard or so they don't melt in the summer heat. (Wikipedia)
Palm Oil Is a Huge Problem For Our Planet
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit grown on the African oil palm tree.
The trees, which were previously found only in Africa, are now grown in Asia, North America, and South America - coinciding with the increasing demand for the versatile oil. Once the trees grow too high, making it difficult to reach the fruit, they are cut down to make room for new trees - which contributes to the deforestation of the rainforest.
To keep up with the incredibly high demand for cheaply produced oil, acres of rainforest are being cut down - leading to a loss of animal habitat for endangered species.
In the past couple decades, the quest for palm oil has led to the death of an estimated 100,000 orangutans, according to research.
Other animals such as elephants, rhinos, and tigers are also at risk due to deforestation. ( The Independent)
What Makes Coconut Wax Better Than Soy?
Coconut Wax Is Sustainable
First, we need to look at coconuts and how they’re harvested in order to determine sustainability. Coconut plants are very resilient and can survive in conditions that other plants can’t, including extreme heat and humidity and acidic, low-nutrient soil.
Once a tree starts producing, it will produce as many as 20 coconuts per bunch per month!
And since they grow in tropical regions where it doesn’t get cold enough for them to go dormant, coconuts are in season year-round. That means that you could potentially get as many as 240 coconuts per year, per tree, under ideal conditions. The small farms that grow coconuts only need to plant enough trees to produce the yield they need to keep going.
What’s even better is that a lot of coconuts are grown without the use of pesticides.
Coconut wax is made from the flesh of the coconut. More specifically, coconut wax comes from coconut oil found in the fleshy part.
To make coconut wax, the oil has to first be extracted from the flesh. This is done by two methods: hot press and cold press..
The process of making coconut wax is pretty sustainable both in how coconuts are grown and how the actual wax is produced.
The high yield, absence of pesticides, and use of all parts of the plant all make growing coconuts sustainable.
But, there are different processing methods used to make coconut wax and some are more sustainable than others. For example, the cold pressing method is the most sustainable because chemical use is low. Hot pressing methods use more chemicals so they are less sustainable.
Overall, producing coconut wax is still more sustainable than most other types of wax.
Coco Apricot Wax Burns Longer
Coconut waxes burn slower and are cleaner than soy and paraffin waxes. This is due to the lower melting point of the coconut oil. This means they can last up to twice as long.
Stronger Scent (Hot/Cold) Throw
Coco Apricot Wax is, what many would argue, unbeatable in terms of it’s scent throw (how well the wax distributes and releases fragrance into the air). Apricots are specifically added into this coconut wax just for it’s scent performance, and because of this, you won’t need as big of a candle for the same room as a soy candle.
Coconut apricot wax produces less soot, due to its viscosity. So, not only is it a far more aesthetic burn (especially with our ethically sourced mica), but it's a cleaner one.
What Paraffin Is Used In Coco Apricot Wax?
Every Coco Apricot wax on the market has some kind of trace amounts of paraffin wax blended into it. Why, you may ask?
“Paraffin Wax is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms.”
This is a very general statement as there are many different kinds of paraffin wax. You can read more about the MANY kinds of paraffin waxes by going to Faith Industries LTD.
What’s more important to note is the kind of paraffin used in our Coco Apricot wax here at Ritual Candle Co. I source my wax from Hive & Honey Candle Co and this wax contains a minuscule amount of FDA food-grade paraffin for body and stability.
This wax has the following features:
Gluten free, toxin-free, paraben-free, and phthalates-free
Cruelty-free
Easy to use, single pour wax,
Bright white color
Even, slow burn with excellent glass adhesion
Amazing hot & cold throw
Handles 8-12% fragrance load, although we've found 8-9% to be the best.
No sinkholes.
Does NOT contain soy.
Summary
In comparison, we feel that Coco Apricot Wax is a superior choice versus Soy in quality, sustainability, and performance.
At the end of the day, which candle you choose to have in your home is for you to decide. Soy wax and soy wax blends contain harmful additives, they’re damaging our environment and threatening different animal species, and simply put, they just don’t perform as well as Coco Apricot wax.
Ritual Candles will never leave you worried or thinking to yourself, “is this going to harm me or my family”? You’ll never need to worry about our environmental impact. I searched high and low, far and wide, to bring you the very best that’s out there, and the safest.
