What Was Wax Originally Made Of?

Wax is a material that is created from hydrophobic organic compounds. It is characterized by low melting points that enable it to melt at relatively low temperatures and take on a liquid form. Wax also has a high viscosity when liquid, allowing it to adhere and maintain its shape when cooled and solidified. This key property made wax a versatile and valuable material for humans even in ancient times.

The origins of wax date back thousands of years. Some of the earliest evidence of wax comes from ancient Egypt, where it was used in cosmetics, embalming, making sailing vessels waterproof, and for lost-wax casting of metal objects. Wax continued to serve important functions throughout medieval and renaissance times, being used for illumination, sealing, and writing. Its unique properties made it an indispensable material before the advent of modern petroleum-based chemicals and plastics. Even today, wax remains important and is found in a diverse array of products and processes.

Beeswax

Honeybees produce beeswax, which is secreted from eight wax-producing glands on their abdomens. Worker bees consume honey and secrete wax scales that combine to form honeycomb. The bees construct the honeycomb within beehives to contain larva, honey and pollen. To harvest beeswax, beekeepers melt the honeycomb and strain out the wax.

The earliest evidence of beeswax use comes from cosmetic jars found in tombs of ancient Egypt, dating back around 5,000 years. Ancient peoples valued beeswax for its malleability and hydrophobic properties. The ancient Greeks and Romans used it for medicinal purposes, to coat surfaces, in encaustic painting, and to make candles that gently lit homes without producing smoke like animal-fat candles.

Animal Fat Waxes

In ancient times, people discovered they could make waxes from rendered animal fats. These included tallow, which is made from beef or mutton fat, and lanolin, which comes from the wool of sheep. Archaeological evidence shows that tallow candles were used in ancient China, Egypt, and the Middle East as early as 3000 BC. Tallow remained one of the most common candle waxes in Europe until the 18th century.

Lanolin dates back to antiquity as well. Before steel wool and chemical cleansers, it was used as a lubricant for cleaning and protecting wood and metal surfaces. The earliest known use comes from ancient Egypt, where it was applied to wood coffin surfaces. Lanolin was also used historically for waterproofing and as a component of salves and balms for its skin moisturizing properties.

Other animal-derived waxes include beeswax from honeycomb and spermaceti from whale oil. While less common, they were also utilized in candles and other applications requiring a wax substance before the widespread availability of petroleum-based waxes.

Plant Waxes

Some of the earliest waxes were derived from plants. Carnauba wax comes from the leaves of the Copernicia prunifera, a palm tree found in northeastern Brazil. Candelilla wax originates from the leaves of the Euphorbia cerifera and Euphorbia antisyphilitica plants found in northern Mexico and Texas.

These plant waxes were traditionally used to make candles, polish furniture, and waterproof items. The indigenous people of Brazil used carnauba wax to make drinking vessels, and it was an important export for the country during the 19th century. Candelilla wax was also commonly exported and used to stiffen fabrics and create early phonograph cylinders.

Today, carnauba and candelilla waxes are still important ingredients in many products like food coatings, automobile polishes, and cosmetics. Their unique properties make them ideal for vegan versions of products that traditionally relied on beeswax.

Fossil Waxes

Fossil waxes are derived from petroleum, coal, and peat deposits. The most common fossil wax is paraffin wax. Paraffin wax was discovered in 1830 by chemists who distilled residues left after refining crude oil. They found the distillation produced colorless, odorless compounds that were waxy solids at room temperature. These compounds became known as paraffin wax.

Paraffin wax became more widely used in the late 19th century as petroleum refining expanded. It provided an inexpensive alternative to traditional waxes like beeswax and plant waxes. Paraffin was easy to produce in large quantities and customize by altering the distillation process. This allowed it to be tailored for applications like candle-making, wood treatment, and wax paper production. By the early 20th century, paraffin wax was being produced on an industrial scale and had become the primary wax for commercial use.

Ancient Uses

The earliest evidence of wax use comes from around 3500 BC in ancient Egypt. Wax was an integral material for the Egyptians, who produced it from beeswax for use in Shipbuilding, embalming mummies, making figurines and statues, and as the binder in their decorative encaustic paintings. Wax tablets were also used in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia for writing and record keeping. These tablets, made from wood or ivory covered in a thin layer of wax, allowed people to write on them with a stylus. The wax could be smoothed over to erase, allowing the tablets to be reusable.

Wax seals were another important use in antiquity. High value or sensitive documents would have an imprint made in the wax using a signet ring or seal to identify the sender or authorize the document. The practice of sealing wax spread from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt to Greece, Rome, and the rest of Europe in classical times.

Medieval Uses

During the Middle Ages from the 5th to 15th century, wax continued to be an important material. Candlemaking advanced significantly, as candles transitioned from simple tapers to more complex molded candles.

Wax was also pivotal for creating metal castings for art and jewelry. The lost-wax casting process involved sculpting an object in wax, surrounding it with clay to create a mold, heating the mold to melt out the wax, and then pouring metal into the hollow mold to create a metal cast of the original wax sculpture.

Beeswax and paraffin wax were also essential for waterproofing. Wax was applied to ships, cloth, baskets, and manuscripts to make them water-resistant. The wax protected important documents and objects from water damage.

Overall, during the Middle Ages, wax went from being mostly used for simple illuminations, to being a core material for advancing intricate metalworking, sculpture, shipbuilding, and manuscript preservation.

Renaissance Onward

Wax played an important role in art and science from the Renaissance period onwards. Artists began using beeswax as a binding agent in oil paints, allowing them to build up layers of color. The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck is credited with developing this novel painting technique in the early 1400s. The ability to blend and glaze colors contributed to the remarkable realism of Renaissance art.

Wax also found numerous medical applications during this time. Anatomists used wax to make models for study. Dentists shaped wax plates for dental restorations. And wax was applied to wounds as an occlusive dressing to prevent infection. By the 1800s, pharmacists were compounding a variety of medicinal ointments with beeswax as an emollient base.

Wax became vital to industry with key innovations. The growth of beekeeping allowed for mass production of beeswax starting in the 1700s. In the 1800s, paraffin wax was derived from petroleum and provided an inexpensive alternative to beeswax. Paraffin’s high melting point made it useful for candle-making. The creation of microcrystalline waxes in the 1930s introduced versatile, plastic-like waxes. Today, wax finds innumerable uses in products from crayons to cosmetics to food.

Wax Today

In modern times, wax is an important material used in a variety of applications. Some of the most common waxes used today include:

Beeswax – Produced by honey bees, beeswax is used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, candles, polishes and more. It remains one of the most widely used natural waxes.

Paraffin wax – A petroleum byproduct, paraffin wax is commonly used for candles, crayons, wax paper, and cosmetics. It’s a soft, colorless, solid wax.

Carnauba wax – Derived from the leaves of a Brazilian palm tree, carnauba wax is very hard and has a high melting point. It’s used in automobile waxes, shoe polishes, dental floss and more.

Microcrystalline wax – This wax is extracted from petroleum and is often used in cosmetics, polishes, adhesives, and electrical insulation.

Modern wax production involves extracting natural waxes directly from plants, animals and insects. Synthetic waxes are also mass-produced through chemical processing of petrochemicals, oils and fats. Global wax production is estimated to be over 1 million tonnes per year, with Asia being the top producer. The wax industry continues to grow steadily along with demand from major markets like candles, cosmetics, plastics, rubber and packaging.

Conclusion

The history of wax is a fascinating story of human ingenuity and our interaction with the natural world. From the busy honeybees that produce beeswax to the oil wells that bring up petroleum-based waxes, humans have made good use of the waxy substances readily available in nature.

The discovery of wax was hugely important for early human societies, allowing them to make candles for light, protect and waterproof surfaces, and create seals and adhesives. The unique properties of wax have proved invaluable over the millennia. The ability to mimic and modify wax with synthetic alternatives has also driven innovation and allowed wax to be tailored to an even broader array of uses.

Moving forward, wax remains an incredibly versatile material, with established applications as well as novel uses still being discovered. The future looks bright for animal, plant, and petroleum-based waxes alike. As sustainability becomes a priority, there are also efforts to develop waxes from renewable plant sources as an alternative wherever possible. One thing is certain – wax has been an integral material throughout human history, and will continue to be vital to society in the future.