| Two months ago, after a long discourse at the | | | | grimy candle jars, walls and even ceilings know what |
| breakfast table on the many wonderful aspects of | | | | a menace soot can be. With soy candles, because |
| soy candles, my 13-year-old son accused me of being | | | | they are natural, the jar remains pristine, and the |
| a soy candle head, as in dead head. What had got | | | | walls and ceilings unsullied. |
| me started was the soy milk e had been drinking for | | | | Now I come to the most important reason for using |
| breakfast, and having recently discovered soy | | | | soy candles. Various studies have revealed that |
| candles in a big way, my mind was understandably full | | | | traditional wax candles emit carcinogens into the air. |
| of how this wonderful material was so much a part | | | | Now, as we all know, carcinogens are cancer-causing |
| of our lives - food, drink, and now candles! | | | | toxins that also cause other health problems. Mostly, |
| Whatever my son might say, however, I can't stop | | | | researchers are trying to prove that anything that |
| gushing about soy candles and their unique properties, | | | | emits carbon dioxide when burnt, such as wax |
| and you, dear reader, are now in my line of fire. Not | | | | candles and charcoal, will release carcinogens. Though |
| only are soy candles longer lasting, they also hold a | | | | it is too early to comment on this issue, soy candles |
| fragrance better and do not produce unsightly | | | | certainly do not produce carcinogens, which means |
| deposits of soot. And when I say long lasting, I mean | | | | they are healthy, too! |
| it, because the average 14 oz wax candle will last | | | | All in all, it is no surprise that soy candles are gaining in |
| you about 70 hours, give or take five, while a soy | | | | popularity, considering they were only launched in |
| candle will last all of 100, if not more. That's almost 50 | | | | 1991, and their discovery is credited to a certain |
| hours more, and not at significantly higher prices | | | | Michael Richards, who found out by trial and error |
| either. | | | | that mixing soybean oil with palm and coconut oils |
| If you've been following these articles, you'll know | | | | produced a perfect wax. He added a small amount of |
| about my friend Charlene Dewitt, the one who is an | | | | beeswax to the mixture to improve it even further. |
| aromatherapy expert. Well, inevitably, it was Charlene | | | | Today, it has been conclusively proved that 100% |
| who introduced me to soy candles, and one of the | | | | natural soy wax does not contain petroleum or other |
| first things I noticed was the absence of soot. All | | | | environmentally unsafe ingredients. And it is much less |
| those who have spent time cleaning blackened and | | | | expensive than other natural waxes like beeswax. |