Candles had been made from tallow for centuries. Beeswax candles were also available, but beeswax was much more expensive. Paraffin wax was patented in 1876. However, it was not until the late 20th century that wax was made from soybean oil.

Currently, there are a limited number of primary manufacturers of soy wax. This article will focus on two: SoyaWax International, Inc. and Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc.

Michael Richardson, the patent holder for the soy wax manufacturing process, runs a company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa called SoyaWax International. He sells two soy wax blends:

The first, Phytowax C-1, has a melting point of 130 F (54.4 C); is formulated to cling to the sides of containers. The second product, Phytowax PV-1, shrinks enough that it can be easily removed from votive molds. Its melting point is 155 F (68.3 C).

Cargill, which bought the intellectual rights to Richardson’s patent, founded a company called Elevance Renewable Sciences, based in Bolingbrook, Illinois. They sell soy wax and soy wax blends under the “Nature Wax” brand. Elevance sells its waxes both nationally and internationally. In the product listing below, adding the suffix “BK” after the product number would indicate that the product is supplied as a “block”; adding a “CT” suffix would indicate a cut or flaked product:

13C2000 NatureWax C-1 Container Wax (25054) is a soy blend used for container candles. It has a melting point of 124-130 F (51.1-54.4 C) This product is available internationally.

13C1120 NatureWax C-3 also has a melting point of 124-130 F (51.1-54.4 C) This blend of hydrogenated vegetable glycerides with alpha-monoglycerides and sorbitan tristearate is formulated for use in container candles and as pillar candle softener This product is also available for international delivery.

Elevance sells five soybean base stocks with different melting points. These are formed for container candles and can also be used as a softener for pillar candles.

13C1040- NatureWax 97MP Soy Based; its melting point is 97 F (36.1 C)

13C1400 – NatureWax S-113 Soy Base; its melting point is 113 F (45 C)

13C1510 – NatureWax S-118 soya base water; its melting point is 118 F (47.8 C)

13C1590 – NatureWax S-128 soya base water; its melting point is 128 F (53.3 C)

13C1090 – NatureWax S-130 soya base water; its melting point is 130 F (54.4 C)

Elevance sells three base oils that can be used as hardeners or fragrance stabilizers, although their primary intended use is for box coating. All three have melting points of 155 F (68.3 C)

12C1020 – NatureWax 155 MP Soy Based Stock

12C1420 – NatureWax X-155 Stock Base Mix

12C1430 – NatureWax X-155 Base Stock 155 MP with MS (soybean blend with dimethylpolysiloxane)

Elevance also supplies palm and soybean/cotton base oils.

This article has focused on two of the leading soy wax manufacturing companies. There are a variety of other soy wax manufacturing companies that do not engage in primary manufacturing. That is, they do not extract the oil from soybeans. Instead, they would start with soy wax as the raw material to make their own wax blends.