Scented Candles

What is a scented candle? A scented candle is a device for providing light and dispersing fragrance.

The body of a scented candle is comprised of a solid fuel source, usually paraffin wax . A wick runs through the center of the body of the cented candle from the bottom, extending out of the top. The wick, which acts as a fuel pump when the candle is burning, is generally made of cotton fibers that have been braided together.

Soot stained stone dishes found in ancient caves in France show that stone-age man used a crude candle/lamp to light the cave walls as he painted upon them. The saucer shaped stone appears to have held a piece of animal fat that could be set afire to give off light.

Ancient Egyptians were known to drip beeswax or tallow onto rush stems. They would set flame to the tip of these "Rush Lights" to provide them with light.

Today, we do not rely so much on candles for lighting our homes, except in the event of a power outage. Candles are now used for decorative or religious purposes , to create a mood with their hypnotic glow, their soothing fragrances please our sense of smell, and they often represent symbols of our personal faiths.

A scented candle is the light, the body, the soul of our modern imaginations.

There are two main waxes used in candlemaking, Paraffin Wax and Beeswax .

PARAFFIN WAX
Paraffin wax, which is classified as a natural wax, is the most common wax used in candlemaking, and can be said to ultimately come from plant life.

In order to protect themselves from adverse weather conditions plants produce a layer of wax on their leaves and stems. Material from dead plants 100-700 million years ago accumulated in large quantities and eventually became buried beneath the surface of the earth. After a long period of time, forces of heat and pressure turned the slowly decaying plant material into crude oil, otherwise known as petroleum. Because of the nature of waxes, being inert and water repellent, they were unaffected by the decomposition of the plant material and remained intact, suspended within the crude oil.

Petroleum companies "harvest" the crude oil and process it. They refine the oil, separating the different properties into Gasoline, Kerosene, Lubrication oil, and many other products. In many cases, the wax in the petroleum is considered undesirable and is refined out. The refinery will process the wax into a clean, clear liquid, or as a solid milky white block, and make it available to companies who may have a use for it.

The refined wax is called paraffin, which comes from the Latin "parum = few or without" and "affinis = connection or attraction (affinity)". Basically there are few substances that will chemically react with or bind to this type of wax.

BEESWAX
A less common but more highly renowned wax for candlemaking is beeswax. Classified as a natural wax, it is produced by the honeybee for use in the manufacture of honeycombs.

Beeswax is actually a refinement of honey. A female worker bee eats honey, and her body converts the sugar in the honey into wax. The wax is expelled from the bee's body in the form of scales beneath her abdomen. The bee will remove a wax scale and chew it up, mixing it with saliva, to soften it and make it pliable enough to work with, then attach it to the comb which is being constructed. Usually another bee will take the piece of wax which has just been attached to the comb, chew it some more, adding more saliva to it, and deposit it on another section of the comb. The combs are built up, honey is deposited inside, and then the combs are capped with more wax. Since several worker bees construct the comb at the same time, and the hive is constantly active with other bees flying around and walking on the combs, depositing foreign matter onto the combs, the composition of the wax becomes very complex.

As is the case with paraffin, collecting beeswax is also the byproduct of a process. The beekeepers main interest is in the collection of honey. The capping wax must be removed in order to extract the honey; they save the capping wax until they've collected enough to make it available to market.

Because beeswax is harvested in relatively small quantities it does not boast the same availability as paraffin and is therefore more expensive. It is used extensively in cosmetics and candlemaking. Scented candles made from 100% beeswax are generally held in high regard, when burning they glow beautifully and impart a very pleasant honey like aroma.