Selling it

What you may legally call it

Updated October 2026

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No grading standard exists "Soy candle" and what it implies Green claims are regulated Claims about health References

Candles have no compositional standard and no grading system, which makes the naming rules mostly about advertising law rather than about product law.

No grading standard exists

There is no legal definition of a "soy candle", no minimum soy content, and no grade. ASTM F2417 is a pass or fail safety specification, not a quality grade, and there is nothing to claim compliance with as a mark of quality.

So a "100% soy candle" containing a soy blend with additives is a claim nobody polices as a composition, and it is still a claim you can be held to as advertising.

Which means the discipline here is self-imposed. "Soy blend" is honest and "100% soy" is a statement about your wax that you should be able to evidence from the supplier's own documentation.

"Soy candle" and what it implies

Customers read it as meaning no paraffin, natural, and better to burn. Only the first is a claim about composition and it is the one you can actually substantiate.

Most container "soy" waxes are blends containing additives for adhesion and for frosting control. If your label says 100 percent, check the data sheet rather than the product name.

Green claims are regulated

The FTC Green Guides cover environmental marketing claims, and they reach the vocabulary this category lives on: "natural", "eco-friendly", "non-toxic", "clean burning", "sustainable".

Unqualified general environmental benefit claims are the ones the guides treat most skeptically, because they imply more than a maker can substantiate.

The safe version is always specific and factual: "made with soy wax", "cotton wick", "recyclable glass". Those are things you can prove.

Claims about health

"Non-toxic", "purifies the air", "relieves stress", "aromatherapy benefits" are the ones that move from advertising into a different kind of trouble.

A candle that is claimed to treat or affect a condition is being offered as something other than a candle, and that is a much larger conversation than a marketing one.

Describe the smell, not its effect on the person smelling it.

References

US Federal Trade Commission. Green Guides, 16 CFR Part 260, on environmental marketing claims including "natural", "non-toxic" and unqualified general benefit claims. ftc.gov

ASTM F2417, Standard Specification for Fire Safety for Candles. Minimum safety requirements for candles and candle ensembles, including flame height, stability, secondary ignition and end of useful life. Voluntary. astm.org

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act. A candle is a consumer commodity: the label carries an identity, a net quantity of contents and the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor. ftc.gov

Written from the federal regulation, the CPSC material and the published scope of the ASTM candle standards. The standards themselves are copyrighted documents that must be bought; what is described here is their scope and requirements as published, not their text. Your own burn testing against your own vessel and wick is what establishes whether a candle you made is safe.