Candles were one of the main means of lighting houses for centuries. It is thought that the Egyptians were the first people to make candles by using reeds to makes torches that they sopped in wax, but they were wickless. By 3000 B.C they made beeswax candles. The Romans are said to have made the first candles using wicks. The lit their homes and temples with these candles and used them to see outside at night. The fat of whales was used to make candles in China in the Qin Dynasty period 221-206 BC. The people of India boiled cinnamon and gathered that wax to light their temples. The oil of the candlefish was used to produce “candles” in the Pacific Northwest.

These candles were made with tallow, which comes from the suet of cattle and sheep. During the Medieval era, they began to use beeswax to make candles. This is the substance that bees make honeycombs with that they produce with their bodies. The beeswax candle didn’t smoke like the tallow candles did so it improved the performance of candles. The 19thc brought more improvements in candles and the candle making process. In 1834, Joseph Morgan developed better production method; he used a cylinder to mould the candles and a piston removed them as they hardened. So he invented an assembly line technique for making candles.

In 1850 the residue from refining crude oil through distillation was discovered to burn without leaving an odor and burned clean enough to be used for making candles. The use of stearic acid climbed at the end of the 19th and it was used to harden candles made with paraffin wax. This saved paraffin candles because otherwise their low melting point would have deterred their use. In 1879 candle use took a huge drop because of the use of the light bulb became popular.

During the early part of the 20th century the oil and meat packing industries rose in the United States and increased the main ingredients paraffin and stearic acid of which candles were produced. The soy candle is a relative newcomer to kindle history; Michael Richards invented them in 1991, while he endeavored to create a less expensive alternative to beeswax. After trying various vegetable oils he settled on soy as the main ingredient and by 1996 he had figured out how-to make candles from soy that were economical to produce.

Since his huge candle ingredient and method invention, soy candles have gained in popularity among candle makers and the candle buying public. They are now more sought after than paraffin candles. Soy candles burn clean they and their wicks are made without toxic chemicals. Paraffin candles have many chemicals in them; the EPA names around sixteen of these toxins and they are released when the paraffin candles are burned. This and the unsightly black residue from smoke that paraffin candles leave on glass containers are two reasons for the popularity of soy candles. Another is that soy candles burn longer.