Understanding the science behind our odor-neutralizing candles can help you appreciate the innovation and care that goes into every candle we pour.

Gray Duck Candle Company's collections offer an effective and safe solution to clarify your air and keep your space smelling fresh and inviting.

Along with using the highest quality blend of clean burning apricot, coconut, and soy waxes, our commitment to providing the most effective odor neutralization candles for athletes and pet owners alike has led us to harness the power of natural, environmentally-safe enzymes in our wax blends.

The waxes we use for our candles - apricot, coconut, and soy - are the ideal choice when the objective is odor neutralization. Our waxes are fully tested with our enzyme blend for stability and longevity. Our candles burn cleaner and longer than pure soy or paraffin-based candles, emitting less smoke when the candle is trimmed correctly, and do not release dangerous petroleum-based soot into your air. Our waxes are sustainable and renewable, and are made from natural, ecologically-friendly, and replenishable sources.

Even in the world of hand-poured candles, innovation and science go hand-in-hand.

Quality is our driving force. Every production run undergoes extensive testing to ensure that we are maintaining each scent blends delicate and pleasant balance being emitted into the air, while at the same time ensuring the enzymes are working hard to neutralize foul odors from the air. We design the candles to neutralize odors, not mask them or hide them with heavy, air polluting chemical scents.

While it does make less expensive candles, paraffin wax is not sustainable, nor environmentally-friendly, as it is sourced from the refining of crude oil. Numerous studies have shown that burning paraffin emits carcinogenic pollutants and petroluem-based soot into the air.

All About Our Apricot~Coconut~Soy Wax Candles

Coconuts are so versatile that they are used not only to create various food and health products but also in cosmetics and other things, especially for coconut oil and natural coconut candle wax. Now, if you’re here because you’re into candles, then you already know that a candle made with a blend of Apricot~Coconut~Soy waxes is one of the healthiest types of candles in the market.

What is Apricot~Coconut~Soy Wax?

Apricot~Coconut-Soy wax is a colorless and odorless wax made from cold-pressed coconut meat or coconut oil mixed with soy wax and apricot oils. It is considered one of the best and healthiest blends of wax to make candles because it doesn’t produce as much soot as the other types of candle wax. This produces candles that have better burn quality and aromatic throw.

Benefits of Using Apricot~Coconut~Soy Wax in Candles

Let’s take a look at the benefits of Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax in terms of using them in our candles:

Apricot~Coconut~Soy Wax VS Other Candle Waxes

Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax naturally has a bright white color. It doesn’t require bleaching or refining to create a creamy, smooth pour and resists cracking.

Candles made from Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax burn the cleanest compared to other types of wax. It produces the least amount of soot so you don’t have to worry about breathing it in or keeping your surfaces clean.

Our Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax is perfect for those who enjoy using their candles for aromatherapy. It has a superior scent throw which means you can produce long-lasting and strongly scented candles using this wax that fills larger spaces with scent than comparably sized candles made of other waxes.

You can also enjoy your candles longer because Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax burns slower than other waxes.

If you’re all about saving the planet, Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax candles are the perfect fit for you because they are the most eco-friendly candles to produce. They are non-toxic and burn cleaner because Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax is as close to a smoke-free and soot-free candle that can be made today.

However, many candles on the market, even when labeled as Soy wax or Coconut Apricot wax, are actually blended with paraffin wax, a by-product of crude oil refinement. Gray Duck Candle Do. uses its own proprietary pure Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax blend made from Apricot, Coconut, and Soy, providing a natural wax that rivals the cheap store paraffin candles in performance which is much cleaner and healthier for you to burn. 

What Are The Common Candle Waxes?

Let’s take a look at the other types of wax that you might have heard of when buying candles. The most popular ones used for candles are beeswax, palm wax, paraffin wax, and soy wax. 

There are many factors as to why candle makers use these various types of wax and each one has its pros and cons. The right choice of wax depends on what you value more. Some candle makers value affordability and availability, while others are more concerned with the ability to hold scent and the physical appearance or finish it gives to their candles.

BEESWAX is harvested from the beehives, melted and filtered several times, and then rolled out or turned into blocks. Dating back to the time of ancient Egyptians and ancient Romans, it is the oldest type of non-animal fat-based wax used in candle making. 

It can lead to expensive candles because it is the purest type of candle wax. It has a low yield per hive and, like Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax, it is usually derived naturally and organically. Beeswax candles have a better burn quality than paraffin wax and they burn brighter, hotter, and cleaner, too!

Pure beeswax candles are natural air purifiers that emit negative ions that clean your air of odors. Adding scent to the candles can be challenging because the negative ions can break down the scent oils blended into the waxes. But since it has a naturally sweet scent due to the honey it was infused with, beeswax candles are typically unscented. Unless it has been bleached, It also has a natural golden color that makes adding coloring dyes to the wax challenging.

PALM WAX is obtained from palm oil and was once believed to be a sustainable option. This would have been true if it was only possible to produce its products 100% organically but because of the high global demand of the various products in the palm industry, a lot of the palm oil available in the market is produced either unnaturally, unsustainably, or through clear-cutting tropical rainforests and jungles.

PARAFFIN WAX is derived from crude oil and is the cheapest wax on the market. Most commercially available candles are made from paraffin wax because the wax comes in different melting points, blends well with other waxes, and can be poured into various candle shapes and types.

Unfortunately, when paraffin wax is burned, it emits the most smoke and soot into the air of all of the non-animal fat-based candle waxes. The smoke and soot are based on hydrocarbons from paraffin’s petroleum-based wax and have been found to lead to lung issues, can irritate the eyes, and leaves a layer of greasy dust in the rooms they are burned in.

Candles made of paraffin wax can hold a stronger scent, however, paraffin candles burn the fastest, leading their customers to buy more candles more often. Of all the types of wax mentioned here, this leads to the least environmentally-friendly candle so if you’re eco-conscious, you’re probably one of the people who would like to stay away from this kind of wax.

SOY WAX is made from soybean oil and is known to have good burn quality. It is cheap, typically sourced from US-based farming, and produces minimal soot. However, pure soy candles are known to crack if they are exposed to temperature differences or are stored for long time periods, so they are usually blended as a base wax with other waxes to improve the candle’s shelf life.

What are Wax Blends?

We’ve mentioned “blends” or “wax blends” a few times in this article and mixing different waxes is nothing new in the world of candle making. But what does it mean when we say blends?

To put it simply, one type of wax is mixed with another (or several) types of wax to take advantage of the qualities they possess. For example, our Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax is a blend of apricot oil-derived wax, coconut oil-derived wax, and soy wax to create candles with good, consistent burning quality, even and room-filling scent throw, and a smooth, creamy wax texture.

Blends are usually labeled according to which type of wax is in the majority of the blend. For example, if the candle is made of 51% Coconut wax, then it is labeled as coconut blend. For our purposes, we are proud of our blend and want to highlight the waxes used in our candles. We do NOT use palm or paraffin waxes in our candles.

At the end of the day, the type of wax or blend you choose for your candles depends on what you value most. A candle made of Apricot~Coconut~Soy wax might seem a bit more pricey than the bigger and cheaper paraffin wax candle next to it but it is important to look at the burn time, scent quality, and environmental impact of the candle, too.

There are some very distinct differences between odor-neutralizing scented candles and traditional scented candles.

All scented candles are designed to “throw”, or fill the air with a pleasing scent. Depending on the candle maker and scent oils used, the scents can be light and delicate, all the way to over powering and thick. It takes a master blender to find a balance between room filling scents and too much scent.

Traditional scented candles serve to mask foul odors with scents, hopefully overwhelming the bad odors in your nose. The masking scents last as long as the candle burns and quickly fade away.

Odor-neutralizing candles eliminate the VOCs and foul odors from the air by throwing out a human and pet safe enzyme when candle is burning that attacks the VOCs and transforms them to harmless molecules, never to return, while still providing a pleasant scent to the air.

Gray Duck Candle Co. is proud to use an air-safe, vapor-phase neutralizing enzyme additive in all of our candle collections that provides superior airborne effectiveness to annihilate foul odors even after the candle stops burning.

Our enzymes do not breakdown in heat and are a vapor-phase, true molecular odor neutralizer that is effective at eliminating most unpleasant and harmful odors we humans are exposed to on a daily basis, especially athletic gear, pet odors, and household smoke and smells.

Enzymes are biological molecules that act as catalysts in various chemical reactions. Once airborne, our enzymes speed up these reactions with the noxious odors without being consumed in the process, allowing them to be reused repeatedly as they travel through the air.

Odors are caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are released into the air by chemicals, gases, bacteria, fungi, and molds. These compounds can come from various sources, including athletic or workout gear, shoes, pets, foods, smoke, and more.

When these VOCs interact with the sensory receptor cells in your nose (olfactory receptors), they produce the sensation of a bad smell that alerts your body that this air might be dangerous to breathe.

The enzymes we use in our candles are specially formulated to bond to and break down these odor-causing VOCs at a molecular level in a continuous three step process. Here’s how they work:

Step 1) Bond: The enzymes in our candles bond to the polar surfaces of the odor molecules. This bonding is highly specific to attach only odor molecules, meaning the enzymes are designed to target the exact compounds responsible for unpleasant smells and to help clean the air.

Step 2) Neutralize: Once bonded to the odor molecules, the enzymes catalyze a chemical reaction that breaks these molecules into smaller, non-odorous components that naturally fall out of the air. This process neutralizes the odor at its source, rather than just masking it with additional chemical-based scents.

Step 3) Repeat: After breaking down their target odor molecules into non-odorous molecules, the enzymes detach themselves and are float through the air to bind to new odor-causing molecules, repeating the process and continuously working to keep your space smelling fresh until they filter out of the air or fall to the ground.

• Handle carefully as the container may become hot during use.
  
• Extinguish candles with care using a flame snuffer or covering it with the candle lid (be careful, as the lid will get hot). Do not blow the candle out as it may splatter the melted wax out of the container and burn someone or damage splashed surfaces.
  
• Keep wick trimmed to 1/8-1/4” (3 - 6mm) at all times to ensure that your candle flame produces the least smoke and soot possible.
  
• If the flame of any candle seems too high, blow out the candle, trim the wick, and relight.
  
• If a black “mushroom” appears on the top of your candle wick, extinguish your candle, trim the mushroom off, and relight as this mushrooming may cause your candle to produce smoke and soot.
  
• Keep the wax pool free of wick trimmings, matches or any combustible material.
  
• Keep the wick centered to prevent hot spots on the walls of the container, especially when the wax is getting low.
  
• Keep burning candles within sight at all times and never leave a burning candle unattended.
  
• Keep burning candles away from flammable materials and out of reach of children and pets.
  
• Keep your candle in an area free from drafts to discourage dripping and smoking.
  
• Do not place candles on or near other heat sources, and never directly on furniture.
  
• Minimize the wax left on the sides of the container by burning the candle until the wax pool reaches the edge of the jar. It’s normal for some wax to remain, and the amount varies per scent and burning environment.
  
• Stop burning your candle with a half inch (1cm) or wax remains. Do not continue burning the candle, or it may cause heat damage to the surface it is sitting on.

Yes!

Recovering the wax to use it in a scented wax melter is a wonderful way to extend the odor neutralizing benefits of our candles.

Click here to go to our page describing how to recover the wax, clean out the candles, and make yourself a stylish storage box.