# Will a candle made from earwax burn?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-candle-made-from-earwax-burn/508399>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 31, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-candle-made-from-earwax-burn/508399 "2009-08-31T20:21:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![taddvc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@taddvc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taddvc)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-candle-made-from-earwax-burn/508399/1 "2009-08-31T20:21:48Z")

</div>

I realize that anything will burn (or melt) given the proper conditions and I would also bet that earwax and paraffin don’t have many chemical similarities. But, since my high school chemistry classes didn’t cover this ground I ask, will an earwax candle burn the same or nearly the same as a regular candle?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-candle-made-from-earwax-burn/508399/2 "2009-09-01T13:25:46Z")

</div>

Yes, in India elephant earwax is an important industry. One herd can light a small city.