Hi Kathy - not going to debate this with you. I made candles for 8 years, wonderful candles that burned beautifully and sold well because I know about wicks, I know about the organization, etc., etc. I'm not trying to "SCARE" anybody. I'm simply someone concerned about my environment and the environment of those around me. Your argument is elementary - I don't mean to be offensive, I'm just saying I've been there - done that thing. We'll just say you're right and I'm wrong. I don't make them, I don't sell them, and I'm not going to take up any more time defending them or debating them. Thanks and have a great day.

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To Ann Wooledge - Hi Ann, you mentioned a Pier 1 candle and you must keep in mind we don't know how they make their candles and with what type of wax etc.. I was talking about chandlers who make candles using paraffin and sell them from their homes etc. Usually they use ONLY the best paraffin, the best fragrance oils etc etc. You are forgetting this group of people and you are scaring others when you make these accusations about paraffin. There is so much you need to take into consideration. Pier 1 probably does not use quality ingredients - do you understand what I am trying to say here? Go onto a message board at one of the top candle supply companies and you will see what I mean. That study I presented here was presented at the National Candle Assn. which is a huge organization and if you make soy candles, you should know about this organization. There are candle makers who put way too much fragrance oil in their candles which can cause soot. It's all in how you make your candles and what you put in them. If you put in cheap ingredients - you will probably end up with a candle that does not burn properly. The other thing to factor in - is the person who buys the candle. Wicks should always be trimmed to 1/4 inch after each burn - and never let debris fall into the melted wax pool. Clean it out immediately - I go to a candle supply company message board that is very popular amongst chandlers. Soy does not work with all fragrance oils. Difficult wax -

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Now I looked at that study and just had to laugh! It is a well-known, and personally experienced fact, that paraffin leaves soot all over your walls and your curtains. Ask any insurance agent about that! If it's on your ways - it's in your lungs. Soy wax does not. And to say “The study found all of the waxes burned cleanly and safely, with no appreciable difference in burning behaviors", is so ridiculously untrue, you have to wonder why someone would say something like that! You try burning a Pier I candle (if they still make them) and then burn a good homemade soy wax candle and you tell me the same thing. I'm not in the candle making business anymore, but my motives for starting the business were because the candles I purchased didn't burn evenly, usually 1/2 to 1/4th of the candle was left in the bottom and they left a quite visible ring of soot around the top of the walls in my bathroom. That's when we started searching for better ways - soy wax was it. Now I can tell you soy is not as easy to make into a candle, it's more expensive to use and most of the people I know who turned to soy wax did it for one reason and that wasn't profit! It wasn't to scare people! It was to let the public know that paraffin was absolutely not their best choice. You burn the paraffin in one room and the soy in another room for a few weeks and get back to me on that one. Again - I have nothing to gain by "pushing" soy wax other than a concern for you and the environment!

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Kathy F.,

Thank you for your input. I personally only try to do soy because me and my family are allergic to just about everything else. Of course, it may also have to do with whatever the candles are scented with and not entirely the wax.

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I should add, I am simply a hobbyist and make candles for myself but I still test. I also have Fibromyalgia and CFIDS so I am very careful. The people who push the soy have scared the living daylights out of others and it's just nuts. Have to call it how I see it. It's a big scam and people have fallen for it.

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I have been making candles since 2007 and no that's not a long time but I do a lot of research on candles as well. Plz read this report http://www.candles.org/pdf/Okometric_Summary.pdf

Paraffin and Soy rank the same. This report was at the National Candles Assn. by th way. It's VERY important that person making the candles follows the Natl. Candles Assn guidelines. It's also important to follow what the wax supplier is suggesting as far as fragrance oil (percentage). All this triple scenting is nonsense. I hope this helps.

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Totally agree with the NO paraffin issue - we learned this many years ago and started making our own soy candles and eventually selling them because we couldn't find anything on the market that burned evenly, smelled good and didn't leave black soot. The more we researched, the more we were convinced to avoid paraffin. I wanted to add, however, that the author mentions "limonene and linalool" as bad things. As a certified clinical aromatherapist, I can assure you that both of these chemical constituents are very good things in an essential oil, perhaps not as an isolated chemical. Limonene is in Lemon essential oil for instance and recent research has shown it to be anti-tumorial. Linalool is one of the constituents that makes Lavender essential oil so special. According to a recent study by Akio Nakamura and colleagues at T. Hasegawa Co., Ltd in Kawasaki, Japan, they claim to have demonstrated that inhaling linalool can reduce stress, in lab rats at least. They exposed the animals to stressful conditions and found that those inhaling linalool saw their stress-elevated levels of neutrophils and lymphocytes fall to near-normal levels compared with the controls. Inhaling linalool also reduced the activity of more than 100 genes that "go into overdrive" in stressful situations. Lavender is well-researched for it's benefits as a stress reducer and relaxer. For more information about essential oils, visit us at http://www.wingsets.com.

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I would recommend that in case of power failure we should use emergency lights instead of candles.

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also watch out for wicks with metallic (even lead) cores--these are most common in larger diameter candles.

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Okay, listen up!! QVC has a wonderful line of battery operated candles that have timers on them. They are called Flameless Candles. Most of them have a real-looking wick in them, so if you look into the candle you see a wick, like a real candle, but you cannot light this them. And they FLICKER!! They are perfect for people who have kids or pets since they will not burn anything if knocked over, or for those in nursing homes that can't have real flames. I gave a set to my best friend and also to my hairdresser last Christmas, and both of them said it was THE best gift they have ever gotten! You can set the timer to turn on/off every day at the same time, so even if you are not home they will come on and you won't come home to a dark house. Some are scented, some are not, they come in all colors and sizes. Check them out!! FLAMELESS Candles!!

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