Two months ago, after a long discourse at the breakfast table on the many wonderful aspects of soy candles, my 13-year-old son accused me of being a soy candle head, as in dead head. What had got me started was the soy milk e had been drinking for breakfast, and having recently discovered soy candles in a big way, my mind was understandably full of how this wonderful material was so much a part of our lives – food, drink, and now candles!

Whatever my son might say, however, I can’t stop gushing about soy candles and their unique properties, and you, dear reader, are now in my line of fire. Not only are soy candles longer lasting, they also hold a fragrance better and do not produce unsightly deposits of soot. And when I say long lasting, I mean it, because the average 14 oz wax candle will last you about 70 hours, give or take five, while a soy candle will last all of 100, if not more. That’s almost 50 hours more, and not at significantly higher prices either.

If you’ve been following these articles, you’ll know about my friend Charlene Dewitt, the one who is an aromatherapy expert. Well, inevitably, it was Charlene who introduced me to soy candles, and one of the first things I noticed was the absence of soot. All those who have spent time cleaning blackened and grimy candle jars, walls and even ceilings know what a menace soot can be. With soy candles, because they are natural, the jar remains pristine, and the walls and ceilings unsullied.

Now I come to the most important reason for using soy candles. Various studies have revealed that traditional wax candles emit carcinogens into the air. Now, as we all know, carcinogens are cancer-causing toxins that also cause other health problems. Mostly, researchers are trying to prove that anything that emits carbon dioxide when burnt, such as wax candles and charcoal, will release carcinogens. Though it is too early to comment on this issue, soy candles certainly do not produce carcinogens, which means they are healthy, too!

All in all, it is no surprise that soy candles are gaining in popularity, considering they were only launched in 1991, and their discovery is credited to a certain Michael Richards, who found out by trial and error that mixing soybean oil with palm and coconut oils produced a perfect wax. He added a small amount of beeswax to the mixture to improve it even further.

Today, it has been conclusively proved that 100% natural soy wax does not contain petroleum or other environmentally unsafe ingredients. And it is much less expensive than other natural waxes like beeswax.

So I end my rave. Go ahead, call me a soy candle head, but remember what I’ve told you the next time you buy your candle supplies!

I am sure you have been there, I know I have.  A beautiful evening, either spent reading a book in the bathtub, a dozen candles surrounding me or an evening pursuing all those romantic delights that sometimes evade us.  The only problem with the evening is the end when you notice that when you were focused on something else –the book—the candle had spilled and you are now left with a horrible stain on your furniture or even worse, on your carpet.

Okay, don’t panic, although that is usually the first thing we do.  The little picking at the wax; trying to get it off before it does even more damage only to find that you have created a horrible mess of shredded candle wax.  There is probably no way to get it out.  Thankfully, that is not the case and all candle wax can be cleaned up fairly easily.  All it takes is a little patience, and a little of that stuff we have all heard about, what was it again, oh yeah, elbow grease.

No, I’m not telling you to smear elbow grease on the stubborn candle wax, although wouldn’t that be amazing if you could bottle and sell it.  Instead, what I will ask you to smear on the candle wax depends on where it spilt. 

Let’s start with one of the most common place for candle wax to spill, the carpet, and of course, it will be your best carpet.  Candle wax is like red wine, it just needs to splash onto a pristine carpet.

But don’t stress too much, it can be fairly simple to clean the wax from your carpet by following these simple steps.

1.      Try to get to the wax immediately.  The faster you can clean it up, the better the chance of getting every little spot. 

2.      Take your hair dryer and heat the wax with it.  It is important to do this gradually, and make sure that you are dabbing up the wax as you go along with a dry cloth or a paper towel (the latter is probably better since the cloth will become stained.)  Don’t rub the wax since this will grind it into the carpet even more.

3.      After you have removed as much wax as you can with your hair dryer, it is time to pull out your iron. 

4.      Place down a white cloth or if you prefer, 3 paper towels, layered. 

5.      Next, run your iron over the cloth and draw the wax up into it.  You may need to refresh the cloth or, at the very least, move it to a clean spot.

6.      Lastly, take a good carpet stain cleaner and, following instructions, clean the area. 

Once you have followed all the steps, your carpet should be as good as new.  This same technique can be used on cloth furniture.

If your candle wax spilled onto a table or a counter, it can be very simple to clean it.  With any type of scratch resistant surface, all you need to do is carefully scrape the wax off and then clean it with a surface cleaner.

Chances are, however; that the wax will drip on a surface that isn’t scratch resistant and it will take a bit more work to clean it off.  Again, to do this, all you will need to do is follow these simple steps.

1.      Pull out that handy dandy hair dryer again, bet you didn’t think it would have so many uses, and melt the wax with it.

2.      As the wax begins to melt, you should take a paper towel or a clean cloth and dab it up.  Remember that scrubbing can make the mess even worse.

3.      Once you have removed all of the wax, simply clean the surface with a surface cleaner.

And now that you have figured out how to clean up those wax spills, you will never have to worry about burning candles again.

Recently, a friend brought me a pair of really wonderful Celtic-themed metal candleholders from Wales, where she had gone on holiday. On a trip to Los Angeles, however, I spotted candleholders that looked almost exactly the same at a fairly obscure candle supplies store, so evidently Celtic themes candleholders are obviously quite common in the country, though I don’t have the heart to tell my friend so.

That brings me to the popularity and increasing variation of candleholders in the market today. Even a few years ago, a candleholder was something you used to stick a candle in, period. These days, candleholders are home decoration items in their own right, quite apart from whether you wish to burn candles in them.

Inevitably, my fondness for candles has now grown to encompass candleholders as well, and I catch myself browsing the Net to find unusual designs in candleholders that I might want for myself, or as a gift.

During my searches, I have discovered that the pillared style is still the most popular when it comes to candleholders, though there is nothing traditional about their designs any longer. Typically, most candleholders are made of metal, wood, or glass. For example, I ordered the most beautiful set of frosted glass pillared candleholders the other day, which I am quite sure I will not burn a candle in. However, they are just perfect for the mantelpiece and besides, frosted glass protects the wood as well.

When made of metal, candle holders bear extraordinary carvings, while wooden candle holders can be used as the perfect accessories to your wooden furniture. The best thing about candleholders today is that they can accommodate candles of almost any shape, because they almost always have a fairly wide base and can hold oddly shaped candles very well. Also, there are candleholders that can securely hold more than one candle at a time, so you get great value for money.

Speaking of money, candle holders are wonderful as budget gifts too, because they are relatively inexpensive, which means you can buy quite a few without overstraining your wallet. I remember gifting a wrought iron candle holder set to my niece a few months ago. You wouldn’t believe how good it looks as a centerpiece in her new home, even though I say so myself!

These days, I find myself very taken with quirky candle holders shaped like flowers, dolphins, and even cows! I found a lovely set of pewter dolphins the other day, and have added them to my wish list. And I have my eye on a set of copper dandelions. Now let’s see…

Before I say anything else, I have to tell you that gel candles are invariably better looking than traditional wax candles. That is not surprising, considering the fact that their unique nature means that gel candles need not be completely solid in appearance. So they can be translucent and multi-colored, and offer ample scope for ornamentation. For instance, some manufacturers embed small colorful items like seashells and beads within the gel to come up with an exclusive look, or there are others who add swirls of color to their gel candles, creating a lovely work of art.

From experience, I have also found that gel candles last nearly twice as long as ordinary wax candles. Only a couple of days ago, as I was browsing through the stock at my regular candle-supplies store, I heard a woman place an order for 20 gel candles. When she caught me looking at her, she explained, “They’re for our mountain cabin. We didn’t want to spoil the ambience with electric lighting, and these candles each last at least three evenings!” In the case of aromatic gel candles, of course, this means longer-lasting light and fragrance.

However, some people still have a few misgivings about gel candles, primarily, I suspect, because they burn at much higher temperatures than wax candles. My answer to all these people would be, adopt certain safety precautions, follow manufacturer’s instructions, and you’ll be fine! Besides, most respectable gel candle makers take great care to ensure that the glassware that contains the gel is strong enough to withstand the high temperatures and doesn’t crack, because not only does a gel candle produce high temperatures, but it does so for a longer time, since it burns much longer than a wax candle. Having said that, one of the basic precautions to use with gel candles is not to move a lighted or just snuffed out gel candle. Wait until it has cooled before you pick it up.

The other supposed drawback of gel candles is that they cost a lot. In reply, I would say that the price is entirely justified considering the durability of the candles. 

Because they are easy to make, and supplies are abundantly available, gel candles have also become a great favorite with amateur candle makers. That is how I started out making these candles at home, and in no time at all, they had become a rage among my friends and acquaintances. The logical next step for any amateur candle maker is to set up a small business in gel candles, and in fact, such businesses are now burgeoning, as a casual online search will tell you.

Estelle Rodriguez of Sacramento is a 36-year-old single mother who runs a small gel candle business that employs three people. We have friends in common, and the last time I saw her, Estelle complained that such was the popularity of her supplies that she was almost afraid of new orders coming through and was seriously thinking of shifting her home-based ‘manufacturing unit’ to larger premises and taking on more staff.

However, if you do start making gel candles at home, please be sure to adopt all the required precautions such as those to protect your skin. Also, make sure you use the right kind of glassware.

Long before I began making candles of my own, I was famous among friends and family for giving away candles as gifts. It became something of a running joke, but I honestly felt – and still do – that candles make the most wonderful gifts because of their simple elegance, usefulness, and uniqueness.

Today, I am glad to see, more and more people share my views. Through my candle connoisseur friend Charlene, I have got to know a wide cross section of people who have a love of candles in common. One of them is Josip Kukolj, who immigrated to the US from Belgrade about 20 years ago and brought his candle-making enterprise with him. Back then, says Josip, candles were strictly something you saw in posh restaurants and homes where the power supply was not always uninterrupted. “In the last five years,” Josip told me, “my business has grown by almost 60%, and the overwhelming majority of orders are for gift candles.”

From a one-room unit in Lincoln, Nebraska, Josip’s business now occupies the entire ground floor of a building downtown, and he is considering a separate unit to meet his online orders. So it is hardly a surprise that web sites selling candle gifts have mushroomed rapidly in the recent past. In fact, had I not been too scatterbrained to run a business, I would have considered putting my stuff on sale!

Obviously, aromatherapy candles have overtaken traditional candles in the popularity stakes owing to their fragrance and beauty. Besides, rather than traditional candles, people are increasingly opting for gel and soy candles, which not only look better than wax candles, but also last longer and offer more scope for experiment. They are also non-polluting and produce no soot, which makes them cleaner options as well.

One of Josip’s best-selling items is a pineapple scented set of six soy candles, embedded with seashells that enhance their beauty. Among my friends, I have observed a marked preference for my lemon scented, green-tinted gel candles. Plenty of suppliers also offer such innovative items as floating candles, which make for great outdoor decorations. Then there are the spa candles, which are ideal for lighting next to your bath!

Most suppliers include stylish holders and jars along with the candles. That means in addition to beauty, you get great value for money as well! So the next time you buy a gift, why not try candles? Wouldn’t it be much better than a book your friend may never read, or a perfume s/he may never use?

Candleholders come in many different styles, textures, and colors.  From the ordinary to the extraordinary, holders come in all shapes and sizes.  Materials used for candleholders depend on the reason that the candle is being used or how it is displayed.  There are many markets that sell candleholders and that have someone available who can help you choose what is right for you.

Types of Candle Holders

We are most familiar with the candleholders that we see in the home such as those used on the dining table for special occasions.  These can be the one-piece glass holder that holds a single tapered candle to a large three-wick candle that is used with flowers or fruit to decorate and set the mood for dinner.  Candleholders may also be made of metal.  Metal candleholders are great for outdoor use or to create a rustic feeling in your décor.  The types of metal holders that come to mind most often are those seen in front of a fireplace or used as wall sconces.  There are some extraordinary wooden candle holders on the market today.  One example is driftwood that is treated and used to pour candle wax into to make a beautiful centerpiece.  Most of us have seen the candleholders that have been made from old mason jars. These are great to help give that country feel to your home. One favorite is to use decorative teacups as candleholders to give a Victorian feel to any room. 

How to Choose the Right Candleholder

Where you want to place your candles and the type of setting you want to create both play an important role in the type of container that you choose.  For a garden party you may want to buy little metal buckets to use as candleholder.  They are easily made and decorated. This type of candle holder makes a wonderful gift that you can send home with your guest to remember the occasion.  If you are making the candles for a wedding then you will want to make a unity candle that is special for the couple. For this type of candle you can use a large cylindrical glass container that will shimmer and stand out.  Because of the size of these containers you can decorate around them without fear of catching something on fire. If you are choosing candles for the bathroom be sure that they are in appropriate candle holders to prevent fires.  A crystal candle holder is one of the greatest ways that you can present candles that you have created.  It gives the impression of multifaceted lights are being thrown out from the holder.

Safety First Please

Safety is an important factor when selecting the candle holders that you wish to display and use.  Be sure that the materials used are safe and will not break or change when becoming heated.  Keep any flammable material away form the holder if the outside does get warm.  Many home fires occur in the United States and elsewhere from the misuse of candles.  Be sure that you think safety first when deciding on the type of candleholder that you want to use.

The type of candle holder that you choose to use for displaying or holding your candle in can make a difference in how others see your setting.  Don’t be afraid to explore the wide variety of candleholders on the market from the usual to the extraordinary.  Always keep in mind safety.  For the candlemaker, the candle holder only adds to the beauty of your creation, so enjoy! 

A Candle Made of Soybean Oil?

Yes you read that right! Soy candles are made from hydrogenated soybean oil which is called soybean wax. They are easy to make, and a lot of people find soy candle making a great hobby. They are made by using different dyes and fragrances to create the perfect candle, and a lot of people consider the soy candle to be the best choice when buying or making candles.  They are easy to clean up if spilt and are virtually the fastest way to make a candle.

Soy wax is possibly the safest candle wax of today, and is made from one of the most popular plants. Soybeans are used for everything from oils, to animal feed made from the remaining husks of the soybean plant. Soybeans are increasingly popular in China and other Asian countries, where they are used for food in all different kinds of recipes.

The History of Soy Candles

The wax from the soy candle was founded by Michael Richards in 1991. Because of the growing demand for candles, Richards was looking for a cheaper way to make an environmentally safe natural candle that would burn slower than regular paraffin wax or bees wax. After many tests on different plants he found that soybean oil was the perfect candidate for the perfect candle.

Nowadays, soy candles are manufactured all over the world and are a popular candle because of their strong scent and the fact   that they are environmentally friendly. Since soy wax candles will burn at approximately 100 degrees F the scent is spread quicker throughout the area. The average soy candle lasts about fifteen to seventeen hours giving them a much slower burning rate then other candles.

100% Non-Toxic

Another great thing about soy candles is that they are completely non-toxic, compared with paraffin wax which has small amounts of toxicity which burns black. Although you should never burn many candles in a small enclosed room, soy wax is much less harmful than regular wax and is safer for the environment. Soy wax is also easily removed from clothing and other materials with soap and water, compared with paraffin wax which is not easily removed from carpet or any other material. A lot of natural candle makers claim to be “soot free” but in reality they are not.  Not even soy candles are really and truly soot free, although they do produce at least 90% less soot. The fact that soy wax is non-toxic has made it increasingly popular among people who are more aware of keeping the planet earth clean and healthy.

Candle Safety

You should always practice proper candle safety when using any type of candle whether it is soy candles, paraffin, bees wax, or any other candle. Always keep candles away from pets and children, after all anything containing fire or anything that will burn, should be kept out of reach of children and pets. Keep wicks trimmed and never leave a candle burning for more that five hours at any time. Be sure to place the candle in a properly ventilated room, and never use more that one in a small space. Even though soy wax is non-toxic you should practice these safety measures, to keep you and your family happy, healthy and safe.