Paraffin is a by-product derived from petroleum, coal or oil shale. When the planet’s oil and coal reserves run dry, so will the traditional materials we currently use to make candles. The search for new renewable materials to make candles is on.
The eastern city of Lappeenranta’s University of Technology has taken the lead in the detective work to find a paraffin alternative. Several rooms in the five-storey building are full of candles burning and careful observations are made on their melting and burning properties. All batches considered for marketing are tested to make sure they meet safety and fire requirements.
Vegetable-based oils are currently the frontrunner. The raw materials of candles in the future could well be pine or canola oil. Animal-based fats are also eligible, and adapting their use again would mark a return to historic candle-making practices.
“Some plant-based candles are already on the market. For example, soybean and palm-oil based candles are available. But all table candles are still made of either paraffin or the animal fat by-product of stearin,” says the university’s research instructor Satu-Pia Reinikainen.
Domestic candle ingredients have yet to be launched, but Reinikainen says pine oil-based candles may break into the market within a year.
The university also carries out product development research designed to make the burning of candles safer and of a better quality. Researchers say the quality of the raw materials is very important, as they contain the highest safety risk. The higher the quality of the candle, the less it emits harmful substances into the air.
“The most hazardous material is the soot. If you burn a well-made candle in a draft-free area, it shouldn’t give off any soot,” says Reinikainen.
