There are a lot of things not to like about Soy Wax. Much of it is produced from GMO Soybeans, some of it is produced on land cleared of rain forest, and some of it has added paraffin which increases its toxicity. Most of it is not the environmentally product that most claim it to be.
When Kim first suggested to me that she wanted to add soy candle making to our list of Little Green Workshops, these issues were foremost on my mind. I did look at beeswax, but found it to be quite expensive. As we live in a financially depressed demographic, we thought it best to keep the price way down, so we looked for alternatives that would be in line with our values.
All things being equal we found that there are some manufacturers that do produce an environmentally friendly product that satisfied our concerns.
So, as we have a soy candle making workshop this weekend, which is fully booked, it was timely that I received this email today. Len asks some important questions about wax derived from soybeans. Take it away Len!
Hi Gavin,
I was thinking about your Soybean candles the other day and wondering why Soybean and not Beeswax. Found your first blog on the subject and received the answer – cost.
From memory a bee uses 10 KG of honey to make one KG of wax. which explains why it’s so expensive. So therefore if honey is selling for $7 to $10/KG then wax should be $70 to $100/KG which it isn’t so in fact beeswax is a bargain. Possibly that isn’t a convincing argument but it adds some perspective.
Anyway, the reason for thinking about it was in the back of my mind there was an idea that Soybean growing had some impact on the Amazon deforestation and also if Soy wax came from Roundup ready Soybeans.
Have you looked at any of these issues?
Regards
Len
We found a soy wax that met all of these conditions that was made in the US. The product is EcoSoya®. I was wary of greenwash at first, but upon investigation I found that the company that makes it, Nature’s Gift International, does indeed care about the environment enough to make a better soy wax.
The company declares this about their soy wax;
All EcoSoya® soy waxes:
- Are made in the USA with DOMESTICALLY grown crops.
- Are 100% vegetable, made with Pure Soybean oil, GUARANTEED!
- Are all NATURAL and biodegradable.
- Are manufactured meeting FDA standards.
- Are Kosher Certified.
- Are NOT tested on animals.
- Are FREE of palm wax.
- Are FREE of petroleum, paraffin or beeswax products.
- Are FREE of pesticides and herbicides.
- Are FREE of toxic materials.
- Are FREE of Genetically Modified Material.
Here is the source: http://www.ngiwax.com/aboutecosoya/purityofecosoya.html
Yes, it is hydrogenated vegetable oil, and it must go through a lot of processing to turn it into wax.
Yes, the carbon emissions from food miles are high to ship it to Australia, however I can find no local manufacturer.
It is not perfect and it is what it is. It ticks as many boxes as it can, and I am comfortable using it in our classes. With bee populations on the decline, which in itself is very sad and needs a better solution, I believe that EcoSoya is a viable alternative. You may disagree, but that is fine. We live in a free country (at least we did when I last looked).
By the way, this is not a sponsored post. I just wanted to raise the issue, as I knew that not all soy waxes are the same.
Do you know where your soya wax comes from?
Have you had a chat to your local beekeeper? When I buy my beeswax direct and in bulk I can get it for as low as $5 a kilo. And it is very very local with no of those nasty flying miles added on.
Good idea Trace. I will look into it.
To the wider readership: Does anyone know of any beekeepers in the Melton/Bacchus Marsh?
Gav x
Have you looked at rapeseed wax? It is a byproduct of rapeseed oil production.
Hi Kester, no I haven’t. A lot of rapeseed aka Canola is also GMO and heavily doused in pesticides. However, I will look into it.
Gav
Dear Gavin, unfortunately EcoSoya does not guarantee that their product is non GMO i am searching for a company myself and yet to find any that met this criteria. Here is the link right from their website:
http://www.ngielements.com/knowledgebase/most-common-questions/#gmo
“Are your beans organic or Non-GMO?
We would like to use soybeans that are strictly organic or non-GMO but due to supply issues we can’t guarantee it. We do guarantee that our waxes themselves do not contain any pesticides, herbicides, or genetically modified material. During manufacturing, the waxes are cleaned of any of these items if present, resulting in a very clean and green product.”
please share if you found any other companies that have non gmo soy wax for candle production.
Hi Babus. Thanks for the link. It is weird that they also have these analysis report posted on their site that specifiy that there are no GMO in their waxes:
The two don’t add up.
Hi Gavin. Well over 90% of soy crops in the USA are GM ’round-up ready’ crops… so the soy bean oil used to make EcoSoya wax indeed comes from GM soy beans. It’s just that their wax manufacturing processes removes all GMOs… which is why they say “GM free wax”. Here’s a link to the GM crop situation in the US, from the USDA website: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-us/recent-trends-in-ge-adoption.aspx
Hi all. I know this is an older thread, but I’ve been researching candle making and wanted to pipe in. I decided on EcoSoya as well. (I live in the U.S., so the carbon footprint from travel isn’t quite the issue it is for you guys!) I found in my research a kind of “duh” fact (i.e. something I should’ve figured out, but didn’t) about beeswax. Bees roam! They roam for miles and miles, kilometers and kilometers. Unless your chosen apiary is in the middle of a very LARGE swath of pristine land, chances are good your bees are gonna hit some plants that have been doused with pesticides, insecticides, etc., and bring it back to the hive, thus making the quality of the beeswax entirely dependent upon whatever refining is done to remove unwanted substances. Just something to think about when comparing waxes….
Hello Having,
Have you ever made candles using Coconut wax?
*Gavin
Hi Rosie, no I haven’t seen it for sale. Do you know of a reputable supplier?
Coconut wax melts at around 22 – 25 degrees C. Making it liquid in almost any Australian condition. i have used it as a blend with Ecosoya and it barely set had during winter, which makes transporting during the summer months new impossible. It is seeming very difficult to buy a wax product that ticks all the boxes and doesn’t just remove the biological markers from the wax and then ticking the boxes anyway…. Like most of the issues in the food / agriculture sector its all smoke and mirrors. And fortunately / unfortunately Ecosoya has now been discontinued from manufacture. Hence why I am now searching for a less tampered with alternative. Cheers.
old comment but might be lucky and Jason could be reading this or get an email to say someone comments on it. Regarding the Coconut wax, have a look at all season wax company, they are now selling a coco soy blend that has been designed in Australia for aussie conditions.
digging up the old thread again, yes ecosoya is made from 100% soy as they claim but in the wax itself would only equal to roughly 95% with the rest being essential oils and forest oils. as to the claim of not being tested on animals. well the msds from the 2015 version off the top of my head does state thaey have used animals, mainly mice and rabbits for testing of lethal does. As to them say natural, how far can you claim is natural? gmo beans to me isn’t natural to begin with, then the chemicals they use to turn from a liquid state when they get the soy oil from a 3rd party to turn it to flakes and the nickle and bleach they use to take the scent and whiten the flakes
Hi All,
I get extremely frustrated by the use of the word eco by NGI when the soy for their wax is gm. They should state that the source material is gm but can be described as being gm free after being processed. It does not appear possible to contact them by email which is frustrating.
The term eco is also being used for the Eco wick which is made from gm cotton. It is possible to hand braid organic hemp or cotton wicks but I have not yet mastered this technique. There is a post on the Joybilee Farm website which might be helpful for anyone wanting to learn. Braiding tools such as lucets and those used for braiding jewellery ( friendship bracelets, etc, ) can be used. Monterosa Zelandi in Italy have just released a GOTS certified organic linen wick which is available to trade. A Soil Association certified organic wax called Biocere is available in the UK but it will not be suitable for those who do not wish to use palm oil as it contains sustainable palm oil.
This is an old Blog Post, but it showed up on the first page of google…
So just to clarify, EcoSoya is NOT non gmo.
Certain extracted ingredients like oil and sugar do not contain the genetically modified material, as it’s in the waste product.
So soy oil-made into soy wax-is made from the same gmo beans, but undetectable as being genetically modified unless you know the source.
Companies know their tricking consumers, which is the point.
Truly non gmo products have to be labelled as non gmo FROM SOURCE or ORIGIN, have a relaible non gmo certification, or be certified organic.
There is not a single non gmo soy wax on the market, anywhere… that’s why people are switching to coconut wax.