Polyethylene wax is producted by the polymerization of ethylene , a gas primarily obtained from petroleum , the basic structure of polyethylene is very similar from that of paraffin obtained from petroleum , a typical polyethylene has a sequence of many sidechain methyl groups and a lesser number of methylene groups in the molecule. Polyethylene which have a molecular weight of less than 6000 have wax like characteristics typically between 2000-4000 while those more than 12000 molecular weight are resins and between 4000-12000 are wax like resins . Typically PE waxes have a melting range between 90-110 and hardness of 0.15-0.5 and have density of 0.9-0.95 , they are white in colour and are generally in flakes or powder form and are non toxic , tasteless and odourless resistant to water and other chemicals soluble in terpintine , naptha , xylene and toluene.