About Palm Wax
By now, just about every candle maker has seen or heard of palm wax and its many benefits to both the professional candle maker and the hobbyist. We get many calls each day requesting information about our palm wax, so we figured it is time to share our knowledge to everybody. For many years we have introduced many developments to the candle world, but none have impacted the industry as the explosion of natural waxes within the last few years.
Palm wax is an all-natural, renewable resource that is obtained from the oil palm tree. Due to its environmentally friendly attributes, palm wax offers a whole new choice for candle makers who market sustainable or renewable resource based extensions to their candle lines. It has been grown as a commercial crop in well managed and regulated estates since the early 1900's. The oil palm produces fruit in bunches which are harvested, and sent to palm oil mills where the oils are purified into crude palm oil. The crude oil is then sent to palm oil refineries where it is processed further into products such as cooking oil, shortening, cocoa butter substitutes, non-dairy creamers, soaps, and of course everybody's favorite - Palm Wax.
Palm wax is a superb material for making excellent burning candles. It resists melting in hot summer months, has high contraction (making de-molding easier), takes colors easily, holds fragrance well, and best of all, can be easily manipulated to produce an infinite array of surface patterns ranging from complex crystalline designs to smooth solid colors.
Why is Palm Wax Better?
Mud Bays' candles are made from 100% all-natural palm wax. The palm wax used to make these candles is harvested from their fruit never harming the palm trees. Mud Bays' candles are designed to burn cleanly with virtually no soot. The natural character of palm wax when poured at the exact temperature gives each candle a unique, beautiful, crystalline appearance that everyone immediately loves!
Palm candles create a longer-burning, higher-quality candle experience.
Palm wax holds and disperses fragrance evenly throughout the burn of the candle. Because of the palm wax and the way in which each Mud Bay candle is made, they burn significantly longer than the average candle on the market. Mud bays' votive candles also burn completely leaving little or no wax on the side of the candle offering you a greater value with every Mud Bay votive candle you light.
Not all candles are made the same.
Unfortunately the majority of candles on the market are made from paraffin, a petroleum-based wax. So when people burn the average candles off the shelf, they are really burning a petroleum by-product - not very appealing or healthy!
Mud Bays' palm wax candles burn cleaner.
No one wants to breathe in petroleum by-products, much less for something that is intended for pleasure like a candle. In side-by-side comparisons with Mud Bays' candles and paraffin candles, there is a noticeable difference in how our candles create considerably less soot. You can breathe easily and safely enjoy burning our candles that are made with palm wax.
Palm is the environmentally responsible wax.
The fruit used to make Mud Bays' palm wax can simply be harvested while the trees continue to grow. As long as palm trees continue to grow, we can harvest palm wax without harming the trees of our environment. Another environmental benefit is that palm wax is fully biodegradable.
Paraffin, on the other hand, is a by-product of oil refining. It is a nonrenewable resource, so once we are out of oil, we will no longer be able to produce paraffin. Additionally, paraffin is far from being easily biodegradable. Maybe we should refer to paraffin candles as the longer-lasting candles after all!
Why isn't every candle on the market made from palm wax?
Palm wax is more expensive than paraffin. For many candle companies, the cost savings of using paraffin outweighs the potential environmental and health risks that are introduced by paraffin candles. However, you do have options. Mud Bay Candles is proud to offer a clean burning, environmentally responsible, high-quality line of candles.
What is palm wax?
Palm wax comes from the harvested fruit of the oil palm tree, so the tree continues to grow and doesn't have to be killed to utilize its resource (talk about going green). Palm Wax Candles are made from Palm Oil, a natural, vegetable oil.
What are the benefits?
The Palm Waxes (and thus Palm Wax Candles) are ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY. People with allergies often prefer palm wax candles to paraffin. There are no additives to our palm wax candles because they need no mold resilient or sheen additives whatsoever, completely natural wax! 100% braided cotton wicks with no lead or zinc. It is a clean, long burning wax much like soy wax. It is absolutely the best earth friendly alternative to petroleum based waxes. It doesn't have a slick waxy feel to it. The finish on palm candles is a beautiful cracked crystal pattern that when it's burning gives off a sparkling glow. It is very frustrating for me that when people are looking for what they consider to be a superior, natural, cleaning burning candle they think of soy. I have worked with and used both waxes. I prefer palm wax for so many reasons.
Palm vs. Soy & Paraffin
Paraffin is derived from petroleum which would explain all the black exhaust/soot when burning them. They differ from paraffin candles in that there is virtually no soot or smoke while burning. The burn time on a palm wax candle is a lot longer than paraffin. The palm wax itself is a more expensive wax than paraffin, so the candles cost a little more. The appearance of a palm wax candle is a very opaque color, with a crystal-snowflake like texture. The candles are beautiful. I can't get that from soy wax without adding something to the wax. A candle only needs to be 25% soy wax to be considered a soy wax candle, the other 75% is paraffin so be careful buying soy wax candles. Soy farms are one of the biggest contributors to the destruction of the Amazon rain-forests. There is no such thing as a soot-free wax. All organic compounds when burned will emit some carbon (soot) due to incomplete combustion. Sooting is primarily a factor of wick length and disturbance of the flame's steady teardrop shape but palm wax is virtually soot free where paraffin is derived from petroleum which would explain all the black exhaust/soot when burning them.
Palm wax offers a natural alternative to paraffin and soy wax and also possesses beautiful crystallized/feathery surface finish, excellent burning qualities and color stability. Having a much higher melting point than cheap paraffin wax allows for much longer burning candles (more bang for your buck) Also, throws the scent easier even when not lit. All natural renewable resource, the tree doesn't have to be killed to utilize the fruit, they just pick the fruit and the tree lives on!!! (I love that part). I use 100% cotton (lead/zinc free) wicks. They recommend using treated wicks for this particular wax but through trial and error I've discovered that using a much thicker all cotton braided wick allows for even burns (so I've kept it all natural by avoiding the treated wicks as well) !!