Color in Soy

[mystblue]

I'm a relative newbie to candle making - and making it more difficult on myself by starting straight away with soy wax. There really is a wealth of information on the forums here so I have been reading avidly and in the spirit of teh forum, testing wicks, and pour temps etc.

I do have one question that I haven't seen addressed - all the candles i have poured seem to be pastel/pale colours. I am using Poulette colour chips, in C-3 wax. I am using at the recommended ratio of one chip per 1lb of wax. I am reluctant to increase this amount, as I am concerned about how it will affect the burn.

Any recommendations for strong/rich/dark colors using soy? My candles are only for personal use/gifts - so, no competition to the sellers on the list.

thanks in advance for any comments.

[Vicky_CO]

Actually if you add a touch of black you will darken your colors up quite a bit. I use liquid dyes from Peak but at one time I used blocks still have a bunch sitting on a shelf I never had much problem getting dark with those either. I went to liquid for more control on my batches.

[carol k]

i don't use the chips, but in pure soy (mc's) i use 30 drops of liquid dye to make my black candles and it doesn't affect the burn or the throw.

[Fire and Ice]

I use color blocks in my C-3. I add it into the melting pot, not the pour pitcher. I do use a lot of the color but all of my colrs are Jewel tone because I hate wimpy pastel colrs.

I wait until I have melted at least 1/2 the wax I intend to pour and then start shaving the colr block into the melted wax. Then I slowly added more flaked wax and more color, stiriing all the while. But it should also be noted that I melt 7 -8 lbs of wax per melt pitcher too so be aware of that. The color blocks I use are from Candle Wick.

I test the color as I go on a plain, white paper plate doubled. When the color is the shade I want it when hardened, I pour. I love to play with color and that's how I have become so well versed in coloring my candles those VERY deep or bright colors, even with C-3.

In fact, my supplier of wax has given many people my # to talk them through coloring their C-3 wax. It's all trial and error and you will get better with time but you must be willing to work hard for the color you want.

Fire