Juss London

1991                  

In 1991 Michael Richards founded Candleworks to manufacture beeswax candles. As he entered the candle industry with beeswax products he realized there was a growing demand for natural wax candles. However, there was a huge economic barrier. Namely, the cost of beeswax was 10 times the cost of petroleum candle wax (paraffin). In July, Michael Richards started experimenting with a wide range of plant waxes and vegetable oils to find a natural wax that could be cost-competitive with petroleum wax. He completed thousands of hours of tests with tropical plant waxes such as carnauba and candelilla waxes, plus domestic oils such as corn and soybean oil.

1992-1994

In 1992, this testing resulted in the first vegetable wax candle, made from a blend of vegetable oils and natural waxes. At that stage of development, the vegetable wax was hard and brittle. To obtain a softer, more pliable wax, Michael started to acquire and test a wider range of tropical and domestic plant oils. This included partially hydrogenated coconut, palm, and soybean oils. Michael Richards continued working on two parallel tracks:

•             Manufacturing beeswax candles

•             Research and development for other vegetable wax candles.

In 1994 Michael started blending beeswax with soybean oil to achieve an economical natural wax candle.

1995                   

The Body Shop, a national chain of stores that was Candleworks’ main beeswax candle customer, issued the first purchase orders for a line of natural wax aromatherapy candles from Candleworks. For the first three months, the content of the Body Shop candle wax was a blend of beeswax and almond oil. Because of the increasingly high cost of almond oil, Michael then started blending soybean oil with the beeswax. He completely replaced almond oil with soybean oil in all commercial production of candles in May of 1995.

1996                   

Michael then experimented with various ranges of hydrogenated soybean oil to eliminate the costly beeswax in his natural wax formula. In the fall of 1996, beeswax was no longer used. Instead, the candle wax developed and utilized by Candleworks featured hydrogenated soybean oil as the majority percentage of the candle formula. Other vegetable oils were then added in minority portions to achieve specific cosmetic characteristics, such as a smooth even surface and scent projection. Michael created low-melt soy wax for container candles and a high-melt point wax for freestanding pillar candles in 1996.                

With the goal of creating an edible birthday cake candle, Purdue University students developed their own candle formula using soybean oil. The candles won first place in a competition sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Development Council and Purdue's Department of Agronomy.

1997                   

Candleworks negotiated with the University of Iowa to provide a chemical engineering intern to test and document the new soy waxes developed by Michael Richards. This resulted in a report prepared for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship titled: "Increasing the Use of Soybeans in the Manufacturing of Candles".

1998                   

The Indiana Soybean Board unveiled a brand of candles called Harvest Lights made from soybeans at the Farm Progress Show. The development of these candles was completely farmer-funded through the Soybean Checkoff program. This formula has since been patented.

1999-2000                   

Documentation of Michael’s research process on the development of natural plant-based waxes from 1991 through 1999 was submitted to a patent law firm in Des Moines, Iowa (Mc Kee, Vorhees and Sease). Formal application for patent pending status was presented to the U.S. patent office the following year.

Soywax, a hydrogenated soybean oil that is used as renewable and biodegradable alternative to paraffin wax in candle-making, was investigated for its tendency of producing soot and potentially harmful organic volatiles (e.g. acrolein, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde) during candle burning. While a considerable amount of soot was produced from the combustion of paraffin candles under disturbed condition (simulated air movement), little or none was observed from soywax candles. Low level of formaldehyde was detected in paraffin candle fume, but it was not present in significant quantity in the soywax candle fume. Acrolein was not detected in either type of candles. Soywax candles burned at a significantly lower rate than paraffin candles did. Thermal, textural and combustion properties, such as melting and solidification profiles, candle surface temperature distribution, hardness and adhesiveness, and burning rate, of a hydrogenated vegetable oil were also investigated. Effect of adding hydrogenated palm oil, free fatty acids, and paraffin on these functional properties were quantified.

2001                   

Cargill purchased intellectual property rights in Michael's soy wax innovation. Cargill now manufactures soybean wax formulas developed by Michael.

MIchael continues to market the soy wax in the industry and provide technical training for other candle manufacturers in the use of soy wax.

 2002                   

Michael Richards launched a nationwide guild of candle manufacturers called “Village Chandler”. This guild is committed to the use of soy wax in candle production. (At present there are more than 62 Village Chandlers in 17 states and Canada).

 2003                   

This soy wax innovation is fast-becoming a new national industry. Today, soy candles manufacturers range from numerous entrepreneurs to major manufacturers like Hanna's Candle Company (one of the five largest candle companies in the U.S.).