Creating purple from red + blue?

[Darbla]

I have Peak liquid dyes, and I once tried mixing red and blue to get purple but what I got was a putrid mauve color. There's pretty mauve and there's putrid mauve, and this was putrid mauve. Have any of you created a pretty purple that way, or do I just need to buy purple dye? If you've had success with it, were you able to get a range of pretty lavenders and purples?

[IwantItgreen]

I got a really nice plum color for my plumberry spice by using 2 drops red, 1 blue & 1 black per 8 oz. I also got a nice lavender my putting 2 drops red & 1 blue on a paper plate and used a toothpick to add enough color to get my lavender. You waste dye doing it that way tho unless you're making a huge batch of lavender candles. I was thinking about just getting purple dye also.

[jenscandles]

I got a nice color with 1 drop each of red and blue for a pound of the IGI 4794. But I did it only because I wanted purple and I haven't bought the purple dye yet.

[Georgia]

http://www.gellycandle.com/ColorChart.html

this helps me a lot when trying to mix colors. Once I find the right combination, I write it on a dixie cup, add the dye and some straight paraffin. Then I have my own dye blocks and cut off what I need.

[CandlePup]

I have Peak liquid dyes, and I once tried mixing red and blue to get purple but what I got was a putrid mauve color. There's pretty mauve and there's putrid mauve, and this was putrid mauve. Have any of you created a pretty purple that way, or do I just need to buy purple dye? If you've had success with it, were you able to get a range of pretty lavenders and purples?

I generally stick to using 1 drop red + 1 drop blue. They are both very potent colors and if you alter it one way or another, it can cause some pretty....interesting colors. LOL

Although this coming from someone who didn't realize that you could get brown with a purple. (6 drops yellow, 2 drops red, 1 drop blue is what I used for a 'pie crust' color)

[Candybee]

I haven't tried that with my liquids yet. But once I mixed one reddig-glo red dye with one blue chip and got the loveliest magenta.

[Darbla]

I generally stick to using 1 drop red + 1 drop blue. They are both very potent colors and if you alter it one way or another, it can cause some pretty....interesting colors. LOL

You were right! I just mixed equal drops of each and got a perfect purple. That won't help me when I need a pretty lavender or soft lilac, but it'll get me by for now. Thanks!

[Stella1952]

That won't help me when I need a pretty lavender or soft lilac

It depends on the dilution... for a lighter, more pastel shade, use less dye or more wax. If you are only making one candle, you might need less than a drop of each to obtain a lighter shade of purple, such as lilac or lavender. You can also use white to lighten the saturation of the purple. If you are using the dyes with soy wax, which is white, you have to use more dye to get a darker shade of purple.

Color theory is pretty straightforward, but you have to play with the dyes a little to get what you want, depending on the type of wax you are using, the amount of wax you are coloring and the concentration of the dyes themselves.