Candelilla Wax
A hard plant wax rendered from Euphorbia antisyphilitica, a nearly leafless desert shrub of northern Mexico and the Trans-Pecos that coats its own stems in wax to stop water escaping. Harvesters boil the whole plant in dilute sulfuric acid and skim the wax off the surface. It is roughly 50% hydrocarbons in the C29-C33 range, with 20-29% esters, 7-9% free acids and 12-14% triterpenoid resins. On this site it appears as the glide coating on plastic-free dental floss, where it replaces a PTFE coating and keeps the thread from fraying; more broadly it is the vegan stand-in for beeswax in balms and salves, and a glazing agent on candy and chewing gum. Carnauba fills the same role and is harder still; beeswax fills it and is softer. The plant is listed on CITES Appendix II, though wax already packaged for retail is exempt.
How it counts in our ratings
Not plastic in any sense — a part made of this never counts against a product's rating.
We only count what's in the contact path — the parts that touch your food, drink, or skin. How we rate →
Is it safe?
FDA affirms candelilla wax as GRAS as a direct human food ingredient at 21 CFR 184.1976, used as a lubricant and surface-finishing agent with no limitation beyond good manufacturing practice; in the EU it is the approved glazing agent E902. It is inert against oral tissue, which is the contact that matters for floss. The substantive point is what it displaces: conventional glide floss is coated in PTFE, a fluoropolymer, and moving to a plant wax takes PFAS out of the picture entirely. What a wax coating cannot do is redeem the thread under it. A candelilla-coated nylon floss is still nylon, and the fiber, not the coating, decides whether a floss is plastic-free.
With heat
Candelilla melts at about 68.5-72.5 C (155-162 F), with supplier datasheets quoting a wider 67-79 C depending on grade. That places it above beeswax and below carnauba in both melting point and hardness, so it takes less candelilla than beeswax to reach a given firmness in a balm. In practice a candelilla balm survives a warm bag better than a beeswax one and still softens in a hot car. As a floss coating it never sees heat at all.
How to tell it apart
On floss, read the coating and the thread as two separate claims. A label naming "candelilla wax", "plant wax" or "carnauba" is telling you something; an unqualified "waxed" may mean paraffin or microcrystalline wax, both petroleum-derived, and "glide", "shred-resistant" or "PTFE" means a fluoropolymer coating. In cosmetics the INCI names separate them cleanly - Euphorbia cerifera for candelilla, Copernicia cerifera for carnauba, Cera alba for beeswax - so a vegan claim alongside "wax" almost always means candelilla or carnauba. If a brand lists only "natural wax", ask which wax, and ask separately what the thread is made of.
Care & durability
Nothing to maintain on a finished product. Bulk wax is stable for years if kept sealed, cool and out of direct light.
End of life
Plant wax biodegrades. A silk or plant-fiber floss with a candelilla coat can go on a home compost heap and will get there eventually; the same coating on a nylon thread cannot. In every case the container outlasts the contents by a wide margin, so a refillable glass or metal dispenser is the part of the purchase that actually decides the waste footprint.
Pros
- Food-grade and GRAS, inert against oral tissue
- Replaces a PTFE floss coating, so no PFAS
- Plant-derived, so vegan where beeswax is not
- Harder and higher-melting than beeswax, so less of it is needed
- Biodegrades along with the fiber it coats
Cons
- A wax coat cannot make a nylon or PTFE thread plastic-free
- Wild-harvested from a CITES Appendix II desert shrub
- Extraction boils the plant in dilute sulfuric acid
- Still softens in genuine heat, so a balm melts in a hot car
Where you'll meet it
Every product we've broken down that uses Candelilla Wax, and the exact parts made of it.
Elsewhere in the product
Present, but not touching anything that matters — a housing, an exterior, or a part the recommended build replaces.
| Product | Parts made of it | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Public Goods Natural Silk Floss | coating | |
| TreeBird Pure Silk Eco Floss | coating | |
| Dental Lace Silk Floss | coating | |
| RADIUS Silk Floss | coating |
Sources
- regulator https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2023-title21-vol3/pdf/CFR-2023-title21-vol3-sec184-1976.pdf 21 CFR 184.1976 - GRAS affirmation for candelilla wax, its source and preparation, and its permitted functions in food
- article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candelilla_wax Composition percentages by fraction and the 68.5-72.5 C melting point; E902 designation and typical uses
- manufacturer https://www.terchemicals.com/en/productdetail/candelilla-wax Supplier datasheet giving a 67-79 C melting range, the E902 number, and food, cosmetic and coating applications
- article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbia_antisyphilitica Source plant, range, harvest history, and the CITES Appendix II listing with its exemption for retail-packaged product