This newsletter is being sent as an educational service to your Church. This is the fifth in a series of short articles on getting the most out of your altar candles. These will be excerpted from the booklet “The Light in Your Church – A Guide to Carefree Money Saving and Green Use of Candles in the Church” authored by Ross Raby, President of ChurchWares Direct. We hope you will find this very useful.
Early waxes for use in candles included tallow, lard, various waxes from plants, and beeswax. In the 19th century, paraffin was developed from petroleum distillate, and it replaced most other waxes, aside from beeswax, which has remained in use partly because of its religious history and traditions and partly because its properties make it still the ideal wax for candles.
51% beeswax, 66% beeswax, 100% beeswax, paraffin, stearine — What’s what? What’s best? What’s the best value? Most people believe that the higher the beeswax content, the longer the candle will burn. However, the amount of beeswax in a candle is only one factor that will influence the time it takes for a candle to burn.
A number of folk tales have arisen surrounding beeswax candles and their burning. For example, some people age beeswax candles, claiming they will burn slower. While humans generally slow down as they get older, there is no evidence to indicate that candles do likewise. Some folks have been known to refrigerate or freeze beeswax candles. I have no idea why, unless perhaps they like to have a candle handy in case the fridge bulb burns out.
The truth is, each gram of wax is a gram of fuel capable of releasing a measurable amount of energy in the form of heat and light. If you discover that throwing a candle into the back of your fridge for a couple of years increases the amount of energy released take out a patent, quick — you’ve just created cold fusion.
There is often a tendency to focus only on the quantity of beeswax in a candle when it is at least as important to know the quality of the beeswax being used. Beeswax, unlike perfection, is not absolute. There is beeswax which is so pure and free of contaminants that it is fit for use in cosmetics and medicines and beeswax that is not fit for use in much of anything.
The quality of the beeswax is measured by its hardness, melting point, purity, acidity, and other parameters. All of these factors are determined by the species of bee and the bee’s diet. Other than lightening the wax’s natural colour, there is nothing that man can do in the process of gathering, cleaning, and refining to improve what the bees have produced. On the contrary, there are several things, such as overheating the wax, that man can do to damage the wax.
A further complication lurks for the unwary: while manufacturers proudly state a certain beeswax content in their candles, and while most brands do contain these quantities, certain brands fall short of their stated content.
Why all this talk of beeswax? Wax is wax, isn’t it? What difference does beeswax make to the enjoyment that candlelight can bring? Beeswax has a number of advantages over other waxes. It is long-burning, clean-burning, and sweet-smelling. As an example, a fine beeswax candle burning where cigarettes have been smoked will clean the air. It accomplishes this by slowly burning suspended cigarette carbon particles (smoke), These are produced by the incomplete combustion (smouldering) of tobacco. As they are gradually circulated by air convection currents through the candle flame, burning is completed converting most of the smoke into carbon dioxide.
Beeswax is also malleable. You can force a beeswax candle into a holder that may be slightly too small and the candle will resist breakage. This characteristic exists even at low temperatures so that a case of beeswax candles shipped in winter and subject to rough handling will endure without breakage. Candles made of other types of waxes will shatter like glass if dropped at low temperatures.
The other major waxes used to make candles are paraffin and stearine. Paraffin is an excellent alternative to beeswax and can help a church save a great deal of money. Stearine, on the other hand, is hydrogenated animal fat. It’s important to know when candles are made of stearine but are passed off as paraffin. I know of many churches where the pastor has been getting a “good deal” on cheap stearine candles. One is about to spend $20,000 on cleaning the walls and ceiling of the church which he destroyed with soot by doing so. I have seen the same thing happen with people who have purchased cheap liquid paraffin or poorly manufactured candles with fillers because it was a “deal”. The one or two-cent “savings” ended up costing tens of thousands in broken glass from poor melts and soot damage.
IT’S JUST NOT WORTH IT!
If you are interested in seeing the selection of wax candles Churchwares Direct offers, follow this link. In addition, in a previous newsletter, we talked about the benefits of using brass followers that help candles burn evenly. And if you have specific questions for Ross, he’d be happy to take your call (1-800-668-7324 ext, 3)
