Honestly, I started working with soy wax, believing it to be the best alternative to chemical waxes such as paraffin, which is a by-product of petroleum, and releases harmful chemicals such as toluene and benzene.
However, some doubts arose as to the sustainability of the production of the soya I used in my sails. I had seen and heard how the production of soy was extremely changed due to the high demand caused by the boom of the past years (and in a way, it is good!), but calculating the use of natural resources, deforestation for soybean fields, and the transport to Europe (with huge CO2 releases), it seemed less and less a viable and sustainable solution.
So I decided to look for a really environmentally sustainable alternative, since in chemical and health terms, soy will always be better than paraffin.
After research after research, I finally found the solution. Coconut and rapeseed. Both were already used to make oils, namely coconut oil and canola oil. From there to making wax, it was a quick step. And of course, someone had already done it. So it was time to dot the i 's and cross the t's and check the sustainability of this wax from harvesting to packaging.
Coconuts are grown sustainably in the Philippines, and rapeseed in the UK. The two raw materials are then put together and processed in the UK, and the result is a 100% vegetable wax, like soya, but more sustainable from the point of view of its planting, harvesting, transportation and production.
The advantages? Immense, at least from an environmental point of view. Also, the curing time is much shorter than soy, which needs about 2 weeks for the soy and essence to become one. In my opinion, the aroma this wax gives off is much better than soy, too. Which is fantastic!
Disadvantages? A few. Like everything else, this wax is not perfect. It has a low melting point, which makes it a real headache in the summer! There also has to be more control of the room temperature when we are making our candles, because this wax is very... let's say it has character, come on.
In conclusion, I thought the advantages outweighed the disadvantages when it came to this wax, and we went ahead with it. After numerous tests, we recreated our entire product line, and now I can, with a clear conscience, say that our candles Nidore are eco-sustainable candles, and that our process leaves a minimal carbon footprint on our home, the planet.
Each of our candles sold comes with a little card on how to care for your candle, and some trouble-shooting, so that you can really experience all the magic of lighting, and enjoying, a 100% natural candle .
Because believe me, it has nothing to do with a normal candle !
