Soy vs paraffin vs beeswax: which to use
Less a matter of taste than of what each wax can physically do. Here is where they genuinely differ, and where they barely do.
Paraffin gives the strongest hot throw and the smoothest finish and holds the most fragrance, at up to 12%. Soy is the forgiving container default at around 8% and is what most recipes assume. Beeswax is the only one of the three hard enough to stand on its own out of a mould, but it carries added fragrance poorly and has a honey scent that fights most oils.
Wax choice gets argued about more than almost anything else in candle making, usually on grounds of what is natural rather than what the wax does. It is worth separating the two.
The measurable differences are fragrance capacity, hardness, finish and cost. The differences people care about — throw, appearance, whether a candle frosts — mostly follow from those. Density, oddly, barely differs at all: every container wax here holds within a few per cent of the same weight in the same jar.
The table sets out the working figures. If you are choosing a wax for a specific vessel, the wax calculator will give you the weight for any of them.
The three, plus the blends
Density factors and fragrance loads as used across the site's calculators. The last column is what an 8 oz straight-sided jar takes of each at a standard fill, which shows how little density actually varies.
Where they actually differ
The widest real gap. Beeswax holds barely half what paraffin does, which is why scented beeswax candles are rare.
Almost no gap. The same jar takes 183 g of soy or 192 g of beeswax — a difference of a few grams.
Where most makers actually settle, as opposed to the rated ceiling.
What separates them
Paraffin carries scent further into a room than any natural wax — this is not controversial, it is why it dominated for a century. Coconut blends come closest among the naturals. Soy is respectable; beeswax is poor with added fragrance.
Paraffin sets glass-smooth and does not frost. Soy frosts, develops wet spots against the glass and often sinks around the wick. Coconut blends pour creamy-white and resist frosting. None of this affects how a candle burns, only how it looks.
Beeswax and palm are hard enough for pillars and moulded shapes. Soy, paraffin container wax and coconut blends are container waxes — a pillar poured from them will slump.
Paraffin is consistently the cheapest per pound, soy sits in the middle, and coconut blends and beeswax are the premium options. On a per-candle basis the gap is small enough that the pricing calculator will show it matters less than your vessel does.
Natural wax sells, whatever the burn data says. That is a real commercial factor, and it is a legitimate reason to pick soy or coconut over paraffin — just be clear that it is a positioning decision rather than a performance one.
Choosing between them
If it goes in a jar, any container wax works. If it stands on its own, you are down to beeswax or palm before any other consideration comes into it.
The same vessel needs a different wick in a different wax. Coconut and beeswax in particular need more heat to reach the edge — check the wick chart and burn-test again.
Not in the workshop, where you have been smelling the oil all day. Cold throw sells on a shelf; hot throw is what a customer judges at home.
Parasoy and coconut-soy exist precisely because the pure waxes each give something up. A blend often solves a finish or throw problem without changing everything else about your process.
See what your jar takes
Every wax on this page is in the calculator — switch between them and watch the weight barely move.
Open the wax calculator →Print the numbers you keep looking up
One printable page — wax, fragrance load, wick sizing and pour temperatures. Free.
Estimates, not advice. Every figure on this page is computed from published reference values and standard measures, so your own inputs, equipment and conditions will move it. Nothing here is professional advice — talk to a qualified professional before acting on it.