A few questions from a noob.

[Malystxy]

I can get opaque wax pretty much anywhere, but where can I get some transparent wax?

Also, which produces the best, deepest colors?

How can I produce strong, vibrant and deep colors without oversaturating the wax with dye?

Edit: I am currently doing pillars and molded candles.

[Guest amynleebishop]

What type of wax are you looking for? What are you making~ cotainers, pillars? I use J223 and IGI 4630....Both of these produce color wonderfully, but with any wax, you have to stir the colors in thoroughly to avoid getting the color build up on the bottom of your candles.

I am not sure I know what you mean by getting a string?

[Malystxy]

I edited my post. Sorry, a little early here. Anyway, stong colors, and I am making pillars and molded candles.

[topofmurrayhill]

To get a translucent look in molded candles you should start with straight refined paraffin wax rather than a pre-blend.

You'll still want to use an additive to get a smooth non-mottled look, help bind fragrance oil and harden up the wax a bit for a good burn. An easy one to use is Universal Additive. In smaller amounts it preserves a lot more translucency than Vybar and some other additives. You should need less dye to get deep colors.

You might also want to experiment with the Fischer-Tropsch additives that are typically sold under the name Clear Crystals or Translucent Crystals, or under the brand name Paraflint.

[Malystxy]

To get a translucent look in molded candles you should start with straight refined paraffin wax rather than a pre-blend.

I am not using a preblend if you mean already with additives such as scent and coloring.

You'll still want to use an additive to get a smooth non-mottled look, help bind fragrance oil and harden up the wax a bit for a good burn. An easy one to use is Universal Additive. In smaller amounts it preserves a lot more translucency than Vybar and some other additives. You should need less dye to get deep colors.

I am guessing the universal additive van be found at alomost any supplier. As for the mottled look, what does that look like? Sorry, I am very new to this.

You might also want to experiment with the Fischer-Tropsch additives that are typically sold under the name Clear Crystals or Translucent Crystals, or under the brand name Paraflint.

These help to create tranparent wax? Nice, I will look into them.

Another question, which helps color stand out as deeper and stronger, less opaque, or more opaque? Opaqueness can be controlled with additives such as vybar, right?

[topofmurrayhill]

Translucent wax makes colors look deeper and requires less dye for a dark or intense color.

Opaque wax gives a much lighter color with the same amount of dye. It's also a different effect because light reflects right off the surface of the wax. With the appropriate amount of dye the coloration can be very bright and vibrant, but it can take much more dye to make a really dark colored candle. With opaque wax, clear fragrance oil and no dye, you can make a white candle.

Straight paraffins (like IGI 1343, for instance) are naturally translucent. Just a small amount of Vybar makes them opaque. Some waxes already have additives to harden the wax and hold fragrance, like IGI 4625. These are much more (or sometimes completely) opaque.

So if you want translucency, you start with straight paraffin and carefully choose your own additives. None will make the wax translucent, but some will help preserve the natural translucency of the paraffin. Several suppliers carry UA, for instance CandleScience.

Mottling is a natural effect you get when you use paraffin with fragrance oil and no additives, or a modest amount of stearic acid. You can use the Search function on the top menu bar to find examples in the gallery.

HTH.