Paraffin Waxes
Paraffin wax is a white or colorless soft, solid wax. It’s made from saturated hydrocarbons. It’s often used in skin-softening salon and spa treatments on the hands, cuticles, and feet because it’s colorless, tasteless, and odorless. It can also be used to provide pain relief to sore joints and muscles.
Paraffin waxes are used as additives in the production of printing inks and varnishes to improve the resistance of the products to friction or scratching or to achieve a certain appearance and to act as a barrier to moisture.
Common applications for paraffin wax include lubrication, electrical insulation, and candles; dyed paraffin wax can be made into crayons. Paraffin is used in other industries such as in the manufacture of candles, paints and varnishes, chipboard, rubber, skiing and surfing material etc
There are 2 grades of Paraffin Wax mainly Fully Refined and Semi Refined Paraffin Wax
Fully Refined contains less oil content and have high melting point whereas Semi Refined contains higher oil content as compared to Fully Refined and have low melting point.
Microcrystalline Wax
Microcrystalline waxes are a type of wax produced by de-oiling petrolatum, as part of the petroleum refining process. In contrast to the more familiar paraffin wax which contains mostly unbranched alkanes, microcrystalline wax contains a higher percentage of isoparaffinic hydrocarbons and naphthenic hydrocarbons.
Microcrystalline waxes are used chiefly in laminated-paper products, in coatings and linings, and in adhesives, sealing compositions, and various types of polishes. In contrast to paraffins, microcrystalline waxes may vary widely in character depending on the crude-oil source and the method and degree of refinement.
Slack Wax
Slack Wax is petroleum product; the raw material of paraffin wax, Slack wax is a mixture of oil and wax in yellow or brown color, processed by pressing to decrease the oil content and discoloring by special powders after heating to produce paraffin wax.
Slack wax is used in emulsions, construction board, matches, candles, rust protective products and moisture vapor barriers , polishes, inks, carbon paper, etc