SOY-P22
SOY-P22 soy wax: the high-shrink soy
A soy cut selected for a wide melt band and a 10.8 % shrinkage, 2.4 points above SOY-4641. The wider band is what makes it slow to set, and slow setting is what lets a 12 % fragrance load disperse instead of beading.
Melt band 20–90 °C — every live specimen pinned at its own interval
20 °C55 °C90 °C
| First softening | 40.0 °C | Surface yields to light finger pressure. |
|---|---|---|
| Slab stage | 46.5 °C | Pourable but still slushy at the edges. |
| Clear point | 52.0 °C | Fully liquid, no seed crystals left. |
| Congeal point | 39.0 °C | Surface skins over on cooling. |
| Phase width | 12.0 °C | Clear point minus first softening. |
| DSC peaks | 43.6 °C · 50.2 °C | Calorimetry peak temperatures, 2 °C/min ramp. |
| Crystal β′ | 42.5 °C | 4 nm · 60° |
Shrinkage is not a defect in a soy; it is the mechanism by which the top sets flat. SOY-P22 shrinks 10.8 %, which means the surface tension pulls the cooling skin tight against the wall before the middle has finished crystallising. The result is a flat top with a slight concave meniscus, and no need for a second pour.
The penalty is a wider phase band on cooling. The 12.5 C span between slab and clear point means the wax stays viscous for longer, so a wick that is one size too small will not wick properly until the third burn. Size the wick on the third burn, not the first.
Crystal forms
| Form | Transition | Layer | Tilt |
|---|---|---|---|
| beta-prime β′ | 42.5 °C | 4 nm | 60° |
Same-family shrinkage comparison
Shrink — the filled bar is this grade, the hollow bars are its family siblings
Known failure modes
| Trigger | Threshold | Known failure modes |
|---|---|---|
| SOY-WEEP | fragrance load → above 12 % | Even with the wider band, above 12 % the oil is no longer held; a 3 mm ring of sheen appears at the wall within ten days. |
| SOY-SLOW | wick series → one size under | An under-wicked high-shrink soy will not draw until the third burn and mushrooms badly in the meantime. Judge the wick on burn three. |
| SOY-FROST | cooling rate → above 2 C per hour | Rapid cooling blooms a white crystalline haze across the top. Cure under a box at 21-24 C to hold the cooling rate near 1 C per hour. |
Burn records for this grade
| Date | Burn report | Hour | Pool ⌀ mm | Soot 0–10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-25 | SOY-P22 in an 82 mm tin, 28 hours | 28 | 57.0 | 5.1 |
Protocol
- P-06 four-hour burn sessionCapped multi-session burn with hourly dimensional readings
Other live specimens
- BEE-9400 Beeswax 11.5% · 88
- COCO-8300 Coconut wax 6.8% · 12
- PARA-1275 Paraffin wax 12.9% · 21
- PARA-2281 Paraffin wax 16.8% · 9
- PARA-4625 Paraffin wax 14.2% · 15
- PARA-4780 Paraffin wax 13.5% · 17
- SOY-415 same family 9.6% · 34
- SOY-4641 same family 8.4% · 22