Lanolin

Pungent and claggy lanolin is extracted from sheep’s wool. This thick wax is produced by sheep to protect their skin from harsh conditions, and is removed from their wool so that humans can lather it on the sore lips of mountain climbers or the cracked nipples of breastfeeding parents where this emollient grease soothes and reduces water loss from the skin. 

 Other waxes derived from animal sources include odourless spermaceti (oil from the head cavity of the sperm whale), shellac wax and yellow, sticky earwax. We are often hasty to remove earwax, but it traps dirt and microbes, forming a defensive barrier to protect your inner ear from infection (although you may be pleased to hear we don’t have any of this in the Materials Library…yet!) Shellac wax is an insect wax made by the lac beetle, a little scale beetle from South East Asia that exudes a chitinous mix of resin and wax as a protective cocoons for her eggs and the twigs she lays them on. We extract the wax from this beetle-made composite and use it as a polish for furniture and a coating for sweets like chewing gum and jelly beans. 

Check out our blog post for a longer read about the weird and wonderful properties of waxes, including beeswax (the glandular produce of the humble honeybee), earth wax that is mined from seams in the ground and artificial eye wax that is used to make prosthetic glass eyes.