What The Heck Is A Soy Candle or… How On Earth Can You Burn a Bean?

The world is full of crazy things these days. One wonder follows another in rapid succession why not candles from soy beans?

I guess I should be used to living in a world of amazing things, I mean after all I did watch the first man set foot on the moon when I was a kid. Yes, I’m dating myself but hey… I’m proud to have witnessed that event even if it was thru a TV screen.

However, I have to admit the first time I heard of soy candles I thought “You have got to be kidding”.

First of all you have to squeeze the heck out of a bunch of unsuspecting soy beans to get the oil out of them. After that you take the soy bean oil and add hydrogen to it. This is called hydrogenation and is done to lots of stuff your familiar with… for example when they do it to corn oil it makes margarine or shortening.

After the soy oil is hydrogenated it changes from a liquid to a solid. Voila! You have soy wax. This is the stuff they make soy candles out of as well as other things like soy soap and soy based lotions.

For those of you who want to know who came up with the crazy idea for soy wax candles it was a fellow named Michael Richards and a bunch of kids trying to make edible birthday cake candles…LOL.

So now we know what soy candles are and where they come from but why do we care?

Because soy candles...

• Burn Cleaner… Burn with about 90% less soot. They protect your indoor air quality. You won't have to worry about sooty residue on your ceilings and furnishings or in your lungs.
• Last Longer… Burns up to 50% longer than other candles. Soy wax burns cooler,and therefore slower, than traditional candles. This makes them last longer.
• Are Non-Toxic & Biodegradable… therefore they’re less likely to trigger allergies.
• Are Environmentally Friendly… Soy Wax is a Renewable Resource grown by American Farmers. Not a petroleum based product.
• Are Easy to Clean… the low melting point of soy wax makes spills cleanable with hot soap and water.

Ok, that’s a pretty impressive list of reasons to switch to soy candles and Yahoo agrees about the benefits of soy wax, too. They’re just plain better for you.

A word of caution… soy candles can do more than keep your environment cleaner and your pocket fuller… gourmet soy candles can change your life. They sure changed mine!

But, that’s another story...

Shelly Begarowicz, The Rat Race Rebel, is an internet marketing consultant. She helps network marketers and other small business owners to use Web 2.0 Tools and Attraction Marketing techniques to build their online MLM business on a shoestring budget.

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