colors....

[esgaisford]

hey everyone. i'm having trouble getting my wax to color correctly. i put about 1/2 fl oz of liquid dye in crystal palm wax. i was trying to get a pumpkin orange color and it did come out orange just not REALLY orange. kind of a peachy orange...should i have done something different? or added something? also...any advice for J50 wax? i have never used it before. thanks!

[Wessex]

How many pounds of wax are you using? 1/2 oz of liquid dye would color alot of wax! You have to remember that the crystalline make up of palm wax scatters light a bit, so colors tend to look a little lighter than with paraffin. I can use 1 to 2 drops of orange dye with a pound of GG palm and get a pretty good deep orange. Feather palm wax tends to be a little lighter with the same amount of dye. Also, I add a small amount of brown to the orange to darken it up a bit. But only a SMALL amount, as in dip the end of a toothpick in the dye and swirl it quickly in the wax. This is for smaller amounts of wax of course.

HTH

Cheers,

Steve

[Candybee]

I'm wondering the same thing myself. How much wax are you trying to color. 1/2 oz of liquid is enought to color a vat full of wax or more.

For great color in palm wax I use the Reddi-glo dye chips. I use glass glow palm from CS and also get my dye chips from them. I get great orange color using 1 orange chip or even 1/2 dye chip for a lovely light pastel orange.

For J50 you can use liquid or dye chips. No more than 4-9 drops per lb of wax should get you great color. Dye chips you only need one per lb of wax.

[jaxxcandles]

I just recently used the reddiglo chips in autumn orange from CS and I love the color. A nice rich orange color. I used one chip per pound of wax.

[ATTACH]20630[/ATTACH]

Jackie

http://jaxxcandles.com (to see other pictures)

[mparadise]

I only use 1-3 drops of liquid color per lb for most colors (a 1 oz bottle lasts me about a year!). For a deep pumpkin color I use the pumpkin/spice liquid color from Bittercreek with good luck. If you want to doctor the color you have I agree that adding a tiny bit of brown should work. Either use the tooth pick trick or if you have a brown color block just shave the tiniest bit off and try mixing it. You shouldn't need 1/2 oz of color unless you are coloring a HUGE amount of wax (according to BC's website 1 oz should color about 125+ lbs or more depending on the color saturation),

[Candybee]

...also that amount of color will probably clog the wick big time.

[esgaisford]

ahh ok! now i know what in the world i should be doing! lol...thanks everyone for the advice!

[GermantownCandles]

haha! Don't feel bad... we were all there once! Some of my first candles were terrible. My first were 8oz jelly jars and I started off adding 2-3oz of fragrance oil and couldn't figure out why they never turned out right. lol, that was a long time ago though You did come to the right place for help, if you have any more questions don't be afraid to ask, because we have all "been there done that".

[esgaisford]

UPDATE:

ok, i made some candles using the J50 wax. i used about 2-4 drops? i think for 1/2lb of wax of red liquid dye that i got from Hobby Lobby. they came out PINK!!! is it the dye itself? like are they bad quality dyes or something? i'm totally frustrated!

[Judy, USMC]

UPDATE:

ok, i made some candles using the J50 wax. i used about 2-4 drops? i think for 1/2lb of wax of red liquid dye that i got from Hobby Lobby. they came out PINK!!! is it the dye itself?

A true deep red takes quite a few drops. I have used the Hobby Lobby liquid dye and it just doesn't pack the punch that a liquid that you get from a supplier. You will probably have to use more.

To compare read how many drops they recommend using per pound of wax. The dye from my supplier recommends 8-9 drops maximum. If I want pink I use only one drop and get a wonderful & bright pink.

[GermantownCandles]

Hobby Lobby is where I go my first supplies also, and they really aren't the greatest. Especially their fragrance oils or their fragrance chips, they seem to be pretty weak. Check out the supplier by state link at the top of this forum and see if there are any actual candle suppliers that live close to you, they will be able to give you higher quality supplies and most candle suppliers are really good at helping you out if you have any questions about their products.

[esgaisford]

ok, good now i know. i had a feeling it was the dye itself! i plan on taking a trip down to houston for some supplies when i get from vacay next month!

[jaxxcandles]

I think it definitely depends on the type of wax too. The votives I made earlier came out nice and dark. I used a different wax this weekend for tarts and it came out a light (peach) color. I'll need to use either more dye or a little brown for that wax next time.