# Does candle wax evaporate - am I breathing it in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028 "2002-04-05T17:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pyrokatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Pyrokatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrokatt)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028/1 "2002-04-05T17:13:44Z")
I am pretty sure that candle wax must evaporate or something because if you burn a candle down all the way, like in a little candle holder jar, there’s only a smidge left - there’s no way that little bit of wax could be the melted candle. So, if it does evaporate, (Wouldn’t it be too heavy? Or would it break down to something lighter under the flame? 😕 ) then I must be breathing it in. I’m assuming that wax in the lungs is not a healthy thing. Has anyone ever died from a coating of wax in the lungs? That would be a weird way to go. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028/2 "2002-04-05T17:18:45Z")
The candle neither melts nor evaporates - it burns. It’s fuel for the fire. If burned completely efficiently, it would just react with the oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide and water vapor, neither of which is harmful. If it’s a smoky flame, there are still unburned pieces left, which probably wouldn’t be very good for you. Contrary to what a lot of people seem to believe, it’s not the wick that burns - the wick just transports the fuel (melted wax) to where the fire is. When the level of the wax drops, however, the unused wick on top is gradually burned away, but that’s a minor point. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028/3 "2002-04-05T17:22:04Z")
What do you mean “evaporating”? It’s burning! The main products of the combustion are water and CO2. ---
**Author:** ![Pyrokatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Pyrokatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyrokatt)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028/4 "2002-04-05T17:55:00Z")
Aagh, thanks CurtC, I was so into the strange idea of wax evaporating that I never even stopped to think about that. Bleh :o ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028/5 "2002-04-05T18:39:52Z")
•Wax melts and evaporates. •The vaporized wax burns. •Wax melts and evaporates. •The vaporized wax burns. I can’t seem to find a decent flame physics site, but this [experiment with candles in space](http://www.sciam.com/1998/0598issue/0598lucidbox1.html) neatly demonstrates that vaporization of wax plays a part in the combustion process. > [@](#): > > The biggest surprise came after the fire went out. When Lucid switched on the chamber lights, she observed a large spherical cloud surrounding the candle tip. We believe this cloud contained wax droplets condensing in the colder air. This phenomenon provided a valuable lesson for fighting fires on spacecraft: even after a fire is extinguished, flammable material can continue to issue from the source. If you light a candle made from a wax filled tin can fitted with a 1/4” rope wick, the wax in the can will quickly start to melt. After the wax has melted and heated a bit more the flame will be seen to expand away from the wick until the flame arises from the entire circumference of the can. If you look carefully at the base of the visible flame, you will see that it comes from a point above the surface of the liquid wax. Barring magic, the most likely explanation is that the melted wax evaporates, and the waxy vapor burns. In normal candles, most of the hydrocarbon vapors do end up as CO[sub]2[/sub] and H[sub]2[/sub]O, but a bit probably ends up slipping unburned into the atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028/6 "2002-04-06T19:11:23Z")
yes candle wax does “evaporate”. The boiling point of wax (when it turns into a gas) is about 360 C [http://yesican.yorku.ca/lpdd/g07/lp/nelson/nel10.html](http://yesican.yorku.ca/lpdd/g07/lp/nelson/nel10.html) which is easily below the temperature of a candle flame. That is why you can relight a recently snuffed candle by just holding a flame about 2 inches from the wick. ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-candle-wax-evaporate-am-i-breathing-it-in/102028/7 "2002-04-06T19:52:56Z")
Some of the wax does evaporate, or at least is aerosolized. The burning of candles near some things, like electrostatic speaker panels, can be detrimental to the equipment because the wax collects on the equipment.