Wax

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Basics

  • Waxes are Hydrocarbon Solids that are maleable at room

Temperature, and molted at low raised temperatures (40c+)

Use Cases

Types

Plant Waxes

Animal Waxes

  • Beeswax
  • Lanolin
    • Granted unless any OSE Partners already have PILES of Sheep / Alpacas etc this probably isn’t worth pursuing over other options but worth a mention

Semi-Synthetic Waxes

  • Soy Wax / Rapeseed Wax and other similar products are essentially fully hydrogenated Plant Oils
    • Akin to Margarine (although i am uncertain if the same worry/optimization to avoid Transaturated Fats is done)

Synthetic Waxes

Specialty Waxes

  • Rather than using a pure wax, for many applications premade mixes for that use case are made such as:
    • Casting Wax formulated to “burn out” easily/with little residue
    • Candle Wax Blends (Soy-Paraffin Blends etc)

Categories Used in Candlemaking

  • Typically:
    • Paraffin Wax
    • Beeswax
    • Soy Wax
    • ”Wax Blends”
      • Some of these are also specifically optimized for certain types of candles such as Pillar Candles etc
      • Also optimizing Scent Throw (Candlemaking) (“Cold Throw” or how much scent a cold non-lit candle gives off, and “Hot Throw” or how well a lit candle adds scent to a space) is also a goal of some wax blends
    • Some more novel waxes exist mainly
    • ”Gel Wax” (Which is supposedly Mineral Oil and a polymer gelling agent

Form Factors

  • Furthermore wax is sold to consumers in a variety of form factors
    • Blocks (From small sizes like the brand “Gulf Wax” one can find in the canning section of grocery stores to giant slabs)
    • Flakes
    • Pellets
    • Beads/Granules/Pearls/etc

Internal Links

External Links