We pour soy. So you can reasonably expect this to be an article explaining why soy is better in every respect and paraffin is something close to a public health hazard.
That is not quite the honest picture, and the candle industry does itself no favours by pretending otherwise. Here is a fairer account.
What They Actually Are
Paraffin is a by-product of petroleum refining. It has been the dominant candle wax since the nineteenth century because it is inexpensive, holds fragrance extremely well and produces a reliable, consistent burn.
Soy wax is made from hydrogenated soybean oil. It arrived commercially in the 1990s, and it is a renewable crop-based material rather than a fossil-fuel derivative.
The Health Claim, Honestly
You will see it stated confidently that paraffin candles release toxins and that soy is the safe alternative. Much of this traces back to a single unpublished 2009 student study that was never peer reviewed, and it has been repeated so widely since that it now reads as established fact.
The more careful position is this: any candle burning in a well-ventilated room, used normally, produces emissions at levels far below the thresholds where health effects are established — and that is true of both waxes. Larger, better-designed studies have not found paraffin candles hazardous in ordinary domestic use.
If you want to reduce what you are breathing, the wax type is not the lever. Trimming your wick, avoiding draughts and not burning for eight hours straight will do far more, because incomplete combustion from a long or guttering wick is what actually generates soot and particulates.
We use soy for reasons that hold up without needing that argument.
Where Soy Genuinely Wins
It burns slower. Soy has a lower melting point and burns cooler, so a soy candle typically lasts meaningfully longer than a paraffin candle of the same weight. Our 220g candles give up to 100 hours.
Less visible soot. Cooler, cleaner combustion means noticeably less of the black marking that builds up around the rim of a jar and, over time, on the wall behind it.
It is renewable and biodegradable. Soy is a crop; paraffin is a petroleum by-product. Soy wax also washes out of a jar with hot soapy water, which makes reusing the vessel realistic.
Where Paraffin Genuinely Wins
Fairness demands this section exist.
Cold throw and hot throw. Paraffin holds and releases fragrance more readily than soy. This is the main reason it remains so widely used. Getting comparable scent throw from soy takes a higher fragrance load and more careful wick selection — which is to say, it costs more to do properly.
Consistency. Paraffin is more forgiving to work with. Soy is prone to frosting, wet spots and uneven tops, which is why hand-poured soy candles often have small cosmetic variations. These affect appearance only, never performance.
Price. Paraffin is cheaper, which is precisely why cheap candles are made from it.
What Matters More Than the Wax
If you are deciding between two candles, the wax is genuinely not the most useful thing to compare.
- Fragrance load. How much fragrance oil is in the wax. This determines scent throw far more than wax type, and it is the first thing cut to hit a price point.
- Wick sizing. A wick too small tunnels; too large and it smokes and soots. Correct wick gauge for the vessel diameter is unglamorous and it is most of the difference between a good candle and a bad one.
- Cure time. Soy candles need to rest after pouring for the fragrance to bind properly. Rushing this produces a candle that smells fine cold and disappointing lit.
- Batch size. Small batches mean tighter control over pour temperature and cure, which is why hand-poured candles are more consistent from first burn to last.
Getting the Best From Any Candle
Regardless of wax, three habits matter most:
- Trim the wick to about 5mm before every burn. This single habit prevents most smoking and soot.
- Let the first burn reach the edge. Wax has a memory. If the first burn leaves a narrow well, every subsequent burn follows it and you lose a third of the candle to tunnelling.
- Burn for three to four hours, no longer. Beyond that the wick mushrooms and combustion becomes less clean.
How We Make Ours
Every William Alexander candle is 220g of natural soy wax with a cotton wick, hand poured in small batches in our Leicestershire studio. The 100-hour burn figure is not a marketing number — it comes from the wax-to-fragrance ratio and the wick gauge we use for a 220g vessel.
Our range runs from the signature One & Only through Byron Bay, Dubai and the festive Nordic Forest. Each arrives in a signature gift box, and UK delivery is free on every order.
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