Glossary of defined terms
The vocabulary this site measures with. Every figure elsewhere links back here.
Wax families
- Soy waxsoy
- hydrogenated soybean oil
- Paraffin waxparaffin
- petroleum alkane fraction
- Coconut waxcoconut
- fully hydrogenated coconut oil
- Palm waxpalm
- hydrogenated palm oil
- Beeswaxbeeswax
- insect-secreted wax ester
- Blendblend
- two-family mixture cast as one wax
Crystal forms
- Alpha formalpha
- the unstable habit left by a fast quench
- Beta-prime form (β′)beta-prime
- fine needle habit; holds fragrance well
- Beta form (β)beta
- coarse plate habit; stable but expels oil
Measured quantities
- Needle penetrationneedlePenetration
- tenths of a mm sunk at 25 C
- ShrinkageshrinkagePct
- contraction from pour to set
- Oil bindingoilBindingPct
- fragrance mass held before a wall ring forms
- AdhesionadhesionPct
- wax released cleanly from the vessel wall
- Congeal pointcongealC
- temperature the melt stops flowing
- Phase widthphaseWidthC
- first softening to clear point
- Soot indexsootIndex
- 0-10 scale from mass on a filter card per lit hour
- Frosting riskfrostingRisk
- 1-5 rating for white bloom on a cooling top