Whether you're a new candle maker or simply wanting to learn more about the craft, you know by now that the sheer number and variety of candle making wax that is available can be very confusing and intimidating. Good news. We're going to explain the various waxes and will eliminate the confusion you might have. We will explain in great detail the various candle making waxes and their applications. You will learn the difference between paraffin wax, soy wax, and gel wax so that you can make an educated decision as to which wax will be best suited for your needs.

We will also explain the different applications arising from each of the waxes; such as container wax, pillar wax, and votive wax and why some of these waxes have limited and distinct uses. You'll learn everything you need to know so that you can make an informed decision as to which wax is right for you. Just click any of the information icons below the wax price chart for detailed information.

All of the waxes listed below have been rigorously tested with our fragrance oils and each will produce a great candle regardless of the type of candle you want. You'll notice we have a candle wax for every taste, votive, container, one pour container, pillar, gel, paraffin or soy.

We are proud to be an authorized distributor of IGI Wax, Honeywell, Astorlite, NatureWax & Penreco Gel wax. We welcome these quality candle making waxes to our product line of exceptional candle making equipment and supplies.

Click on any of the waxes in the chart and go directly to the wax page of our shopping cart.

Paraffin wax is the most widely used and most popular wax for candle making. You have probably heard the terms "straight paraffin wax" and "blended paraffin wax". A straight paraffin wax is just that, simply a wax with a melt point of somewhere between 125 - 200 degrees. Most candle makers do not use a straight paraffin wax for their candles because the wax is too hard to regulate and control. If you were to use a straight paraffin wax you would have to use additives in order for your candles to hold the fragrance oil and dye, otherwise it would seep from the wax. You would also need an additive to help produce a scent throw. The bad thing is that the additives you use would vary each time you made candles because straight paraffin wax is not manufactured the same each time. A formula that might work fine this time may not work at all the next time.

Blended paraffin wax is the choice of candle makers all over the world. Blended paraffin waxes are just that, waxes that are blended with all the necessary additives in it, ready to make candles. There is no guessing as to what type of additives you need to make the candle properly. However, there are many types and many grades of blended waxes. We have chosen to offer the finest blended waxes available, our waxes come from manufacturers that regulate their products very close while maintaining the highest regard for consistency and quality. You will always get a quality wax that will work properly for your candles. A good blended wax is key to offering a quality candle. When used with a quality fragrance oil, blended paraffin wax will create the strongest scented candle of all the waxes on the market.

I am often asked, "Can I use my votive wax to make pillar and container candles?" In short, the answer is "no". I'll explain why. The three types of waxes we are talking about, votive, pillar, and container have all been formulated differently. Pillar wax is much harder than votive wax and votive wax is much harder than container wax. Some problems you will encounter if you try to use votive or pillar wax for your containers is that your candle will rattle in the jar or container. Votive wax (and pillar wax) are formulated to release from a mold, so if you try to make container candles from either of these waxes, it will pull from the sides of the jar and rattle around. If you try to make pillar candles from votive wax your wax will not be strong enough to hold the side walls of the pillar candle once it begins burning. You will probably have candles that leak from the sides. This has the potential to harm furniture, carpet and many other things. By the same token, you can't use container wax to make pillar or votive candles. The container wax is much too soft, and it is formulated to adhere to the sides of the container or jar, so you wouldn't be able to release it from a votive or pillar mold. However, with all that said, there is one wax that you can use for 2 types of candles. We don't recommend it, but you can use pillar wax to make both pillar candles and votive candles. But be aware that the harder the wax you use, the less scent throw you are going to have. You can't use as big of a wick on a votive as you can on a pillar so you won't get a great scent throw if you use pillar wax for your votives. I'm hoping you understand by now that each of the blended waxes are formulated for their own seperate and unique use. We will give you a general description of each of our quality paraffin waxes below.

When making a candle most wax will shrink as it hardens, causing a void, or hole in the middle of the candle. In order to cover this up it takes a second pouring to fill that hole and make the top of the candle level. We offer four types of container waxes, a container wax that requires a repour, our one pour wax, a paraffin/soy blend wax and even a container candle wax that is manufactured especially for layered candles.

Our one pour wax is just what it says, it is a wax that has been formulated especially for container candles and does not require a second pour. All four of these container waxes are blended waxes and will acheive fantastic results. It is just a matter of personal preference as to which wax is will achieve the results you desire. Some people just love the one pour wax while others swear by the straight container wax or the paraffin/soy blend. I always suggest that you try a little of each wax to see which one you're going to like best.

IGI-4786 Container Wax - melt point: 124 This is one of the most popular container waxes on the market, it is manufactured especially for making container candles. This wax has an excellent fragrance retention when using a quality fragrance oil, it does require a repour because it is not a one pour wax.

IGI-6006 Paraffin/Soy Blend Container Wax - melt point: 127 This wax gives you the best of both worlds. It is an excellent blend of soy and paraffin waxes to give you a long lasting candle with many of the attributes of soy wax with excellent scent throw.

Honeywell J-223 Container Wax - melt point: 137 This is the most popular one pour container wax used for candle making. It saves you time by not needing to do a second pour on your candles. The fragrance retention is great when using a quality fragrance oil.

Honeywell J-300 Container Wax - melt point: 125 This wax was developed especially for making multi-colored layered container candles. It has the ability to allow candle makers to make colored, layered container candles using various colors without the colors running into each other. It does an amazing job of keeping the layers distint and seperate even after burning the candle. This wax has become the choice of many candle makers for all of their container candles because it can be used as a one pour container wax under normal candle making processes and it has a superior adhesion to glassware compared with other container waxes on the market.

IGI-4794 Votive Wax - melt point: 131 - Formulated especially for making votive candles this wax offers the perfect combination of melt point and fragrance retention to make the strongest scented votive candles possible, when used with a quality fragrance oil. This wax has consistently been voted best votive wax by candle makers all over.

IGI-4625 Pillar Wax - melt point: 145 - Our IGI-4625 pillar wax has a melt point that is high enough so your pillar candles will hold their shape and still produce a great scent throw when using a quality fragrance oil. This wax produces candles with a beautiful texture and in brilliant colors when used with our liquid dyes. This is the choice pillar wax of candle makers all over the world.

IGI-1274 Mottling Wax - melt point: 136 - Mottling wax, also know as starburst wax produces a candle filled with tiny white spots all thruout it, giving it a starburst effect. It works best when used with brilliant dark colors. This wax was formulated especially for pillar and votive candles.

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Soy wax is the latest craze in the candle making industry. It has taken the candle making industry by storm. Sales of soy wax are expected to more than triple this year alone. Soy wax enthusiasts point to several factors that make soy the fastest growing wax on the market today. Soy wax is completely natural, it is clean burning and non-toxic, it is made from renewable resources, it produces significantly less soot, it is safe around children and pets, it burns longer than paraffin wax and it helps the American farmer. It is very easy to work with because it comes in flake form rather than the slabbed wax of it's paraffin counterpart. Although soy wax doesn't quite give the scent throw of paraffin wax, many people consider the pluses of a natural and cleaner burning wax to be a satisfactory alternative. Our 100% soy waxes are so pure you could melt them down and sautee vegetables for dinner!

It took us nearly 2 years of researching virtually every soy wax on the market before we found the product that met our rigid standards of excellence. We are proud to be a distributor of NatureWax™ 100% pure soy waxes. Until recently the downfall of soy wax has been that it simply made ugly candles. If you, like many candle makers have tried soy wax in the past and decided against it because the candles would discolor, flake and crumble apart, you're in for a real treat if you decide to try our NatureWax™ soy wax. There have been vast improvements made to the texture and capabilities of this versatile wax. We offer this wax in all three major applications, container wax, votive wax and pillar wax, all 100% soy waxes.

Soy wax was invented over a decade ago by Michael Richards and he alone is the documented inventor of this great product. As soy wax becomes more popular Mr. Richards product has been copied over and over, there are numerous companies that manufacture soy wax to various degrees of on the market now, most of which are poor copies of the real thing. I was delighted to find out that NatureWax™ products are manufactured with the exact formulas Mr. Richards himself created and perfected. When I first spoke with Mr. Richards I told him how excited I was about offering his 100% pure NatureWax™, I told him that out of all the many, many, soy waxes we tested his is far and away superior to anyone elses, and then I asked him why no one else can come close. His reply to me was to think about it, he continued that most soy wax companies have just begun making soy wax over the past couple of years, they're no where close to his level of knowledge and research producing soy wax. In his own words, he told me, "Mike, I began making soy wax in the 1990's I have an 11 year jump on everyone else in this field, I definitley should and do have a superior product to anyone else!" We are proud to offer these following 100% soy wax products.

NatureWax™ C-1 Container Wax - melt point 132 - You will have excellent results with this container soy wax. It has much better glass adhesion than any of the paraffin waxes available. As with all of our soy waxes it is 100% soy wax, it is clean burning with a longer burn time per candle for added customer satisfaction.

Phytowax V-1 Votive Wax - melt point 137 - Phytowax™ votive wax (made by NatureWax™) has such of a superiority compared to any other votive soy wax. Phytowax V-1 ™ has effectively created a formula specifically for both votive and pillar candle applications. This wax gives you a smooth, silky smooth candle finish. It does not crack, flake, break or discolor like many other soy waxes on the market.

All of the NatureWax™ waxes come in flake form which is much easier to work with than breaking up and/or cutting the slabs of wax, which is necessary when working with paraffin wax. When melting your NatureWax™ bring the temperature of the wax to between 160-190 degrees. Don't ever let the wax get above 200 degrees because it will discolor (yellow) under heat duress. Be sure to stir frequently in order to keep all of your wax the same temperature. You can add your color and fragrance oil seperately, anytime your wax temperature is between 160-190 degrees. Be sure you stir both your color and your fragrance oil for at least 2 minutes in the melted wax so it has a chance to bind properly with the wax. If you pour your candles when your wax is real hot you will have a chance of discoloration and/or cracking. We recommend pouring at a temperature of between 130-165 degrees. Be sure you keep your wax stirred throughout the process. Let your candle cure a full day (24 hours) for best results before burning.

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Gel wax is the wax used to make clear, see-thru candles. These are candles with a theme that usually have some type embeds embedded in the clear wax. Anything that wil not burn can be used to decorate these highly popular candles. Most gel candles are decorated using embeds made either of glass or a very hard paraffin wax embed. Your imagination is your only limit when making these candles. They make great theme candles for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, fishing, hunting, camping, fruit themes, summer, winter and fall themes, and the list goes on and on.

This wax is a little different to work with than paraffin or soy wax. Not every fragrance oil is compatible with gel wax. Some fragrances will cause the wax to get cloudy while others will not bind properly in the wax. The flash point of a fragrance oil must be at least 170 degrees in order to work properly with gel wax. We list on our fragrance oil page whether each of our fragrance oils are compatible with gel wax. Gel wax can create a crystal clear candle, but if you use a fragrance oil that is tinted in any way, it will effect the candle accordingly. it also has a tendency to produce tiny air bubbles in the wax. There are a couple of things you can do to control the amount of bubbles in the wax. High heat reduces the air bubbles and excessive stirring of the wax will create the air bubbles. After you have added any dye and fragrance oil to your wax bring your heat up to about 225 degrees, this will reduce the amount of bubbles. As with any wax, gel wax does not bubble or smoke when it's temperature gets too high, once it reaches it's flash point it will burst into flames without any notice or warning so always regulate your temperature and keep a lid that will cover your melting pot close by. In the event you ever have any wax burst into flames do not spray water or anything else into the pot, simply cover the pot with a lid that covers it completely and turn off your heat. After you pour your candle you will have some air bubbles even if you poured at a high temperture. There are a couple of things you can do to remove them. Set your candle in the oven on about 200 degrees until all the bubbles disappear or you can set it outside in direct sunlight. That should eliminate any air bubbles that you don't want.

Here's another tip when making gel candles. If you use a wick that has been primed (wax coated), which most wicks on the market are, then you'll want to remove the wax from the wick before you use them in your gel candles. If you don't remove the wax from the wick, your gel candle will appear cloudy throughout the candle, all around the wick. To remove the wax from the wicks, place the wicks on a cookie sheet lined with several paper towels. Put this in your oven on keep warm for just a few minutes. The wax will melt off the wick and you wick is no longer primed, it is almost ready to use with your gel candles. There is one more step you need to take in order to get your wick ready. Because we removed the wax coating on the wick, the wick now will now produce air bubbles when you pour your candle because air can be trapped in the many strands of the wicking. So, you'll prime your wick again, this time using gel wax. Before you add any fragrance or color in your gel wax, simply dip your wick in your melted gel wax to coat it, and then let it dry. It's now ready to use in your gel candle.

Penreco™ holds the patent on gel wax and will vigerously defend that patent against anyone attempting to capitalize on their trade mark. We are proud to be an authorized distributor of Penreco™ CMP Gel Wax, manufactured exclusively for candle making. Click here to view our gel wax embeds.

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