Dumb question about beeswax and fire

[bhough]

Dear Friends,

I've been using some of my beeswax to make lip balm.  Some of the recipes I read caution you to warm the beeswax on a double burner because "beeswax is flammable".  Today I thought about using some of my beeswax to make a candle and said to myself, "It can't be THAT flammable if we're making it into candles?!?"

Are the lip balm authors worry-worts?  Has anyone rectified this discrepency in their own mind?

Thanks,
Bruce

[lenape13]

Bees wax and fire are not a good combination  :shock:!  If  you are not careful, sparks from a smoker can quickly reduce a thriving hive to a pile of ashes.

[hardwood]

Beeswax is flammable, not combustible nor explosive. It makes for beautiful candles but the caution about the double boiler is so that you can't heat it to the flash point...somewhere around 300-350 degrees.

Scott

[iddee]

A small splash on a hot burner will catch the whole pan on fire. Also, the flashpoint can be reached on a normal burner, sometimes before the cake has totally liquefied. Not a good scenario.

[Bee Happy]

a small splash on a hot burner will catch the whole pan on fire. Also, the flashpoint can be reached on a normal burner, sometimes before the cake has totally liquefied. Not a good scenario.

Yep. - that - if a pan of it gets hot enough it will go up like a grease fire.

[David McLeod]

Absofriggenlutely it's flammable. I'm a trapper and the traps are prepared by first cleaning the traps by boiling in a lye solution, then dying the traps with a logwood dye boil followed by dipping the traps into melted wax for protection from the elements. The wax is a blend of paraffin, beeswax and rosin (something very similar to dipping woodenware). I don't know a trapper worth his salt that hasn't smoked up a wax pot full of wax. It will flash on you and does not require a spark to ignite if you go past the flash point with the heat. The reason for the double boiler is that the water in the lower pot can not go past 212 fahrenheit (the boiling point of water at sea level) unless in a pressure vessel. This is well below the flash point of both paraffin and beeswax and is the required safety measure when melting either of these waxes. It also is a wise idea to keep a tight fitting lid for the wax pot to smother the flame if you have a boo boo. Whatever you do in the event of fire DO NOT DOUSE WITH WATER. Wax floats and you will then have a moving flame as the water spreads.
Of course you could always disregard and set the stage for some excitement to break up the boredom.

[AllenF]

I wouldn't get caught smoking while using that lip balm.   :-D

[David McLeod]

With the candle you have a solid well below flash point temperature. The wick when lit becomes a source of heat melting a small amount of the wax. The wick further absorbs the melted wax where it is heated to the flash point, hence the flame continually feeds itself until all of the wax is consumed or more often the wick is consumed leaving a glob of wax that was melted ran off and not absorbed by the wick.

Like was said wax is flammable, inflammable, combustible, ie it will burn. What it is not is explosive, though hot wax like gasoline when it flashes certainly does look explosive. BTW, gasoline is not an explosive either.

[Tommyt]

I wouldn't get caught smoking while using that lip balm.   :-D

Gives a whole new meaning to HOT LIPS :-D

Tommyt

[iddee]

>>>BTW, gasoline is not an explosive either.<<<

In liquid form, NO.
In gaseous form, YES.

[David McLeod]

>>>BTW, gasoline is not an explosive either.<<<

In liquid form, NO.
In gaseous form, YES.

Splitting hairs, but your right. I was just trying to differentiate between items thought to be explosive (gasoline, kerosene and the like) and true explosives like black powder, C4 (which strangley is also combustible without being explosive) and the like.
I guess I stretched in my effort of definition.