Most candles seen on the store shelves are made from petroleum based paraffin. However, eco-friendly soy candles have gained a strong foothold in the marketplace and are very popular with handmade candle crafters. But, there is another little known candle wax that can also boast about being eco-friendly, yet far more beautiful and that's palm wax.
The most fascinating property of palm wax is its unique crystalline beauty. When properly heated and cooled, it's the only candle wax capable of creating crystals that look like tiny starbursts, or iridescent Jack Frost-like crystals and long billowy feathers on window glass. There is even a version that creates tortoise shell-like patterns.
Coming from the oil of the seed of palm oil trees which are grown on farms, it's natural and renewable just like orchard fruit. While all candles create some amount of soot from burning wicks and fragrance oils, this wonderful wax creates no soot of its own as it's not a petroleum product.
It washes up easily with warm water and soap, making accidental spills a breeze to clean up. That's also a nice feature to have when reusing candle containers.
As a candle crafter myself, I like that I don't have to do a second pour when making candles because palm wax doesn't shrink like paraffin or soy wax. Because this versatile wax is slightly opaque, burning a candle in a clear glass container creates a beautiful soft glow from within. They look especially nice in the dark placed on a fireplace mantle or around a bathtub full of bubbles.
It also has excellent hot and cold scent throw. Unlit, a one of these candles can scent a room. Lit, it can easily scent an average sized home.
Palm wax can hold more scent oil than other candle waxes, allowing for the creation of some highly fragranced candles. Another desirable property is that it doesn't impart any of its own scent into the candle, something that soy wax can't claim.
Palm wax has a high tolerance for heat. Have you ever cleaned out the garage and found an old stash of candles all bent and misshapen? That won't happen with palm wax candles. While it's not recommended to store candles in the heat because they can discolor and lose their scent, I have had candles in a hot garage for several months and none of them lost their shape.
If you can't find these beautiful candles in a store near you or find that they are too pricey, consider making them yourself.
