Colors to play with...

[I_like_melts]

I love mica. Love it. I have some dye blocks as well, but I mostly go for mica.

Anyway, I want to try liquid dye for marbling (rather than dye blocks). Any good recommendations? I wanted to try a Crafters Choice sampler, but they are water based, and the instructions say not suitable for wax. I'm prefer colors that I can use in soap as well. Any suggestions?

 

[jcandleattic]

I love mica. Love it. I have some dye blocks as well, but I mostly go for mica.

Anyway, I want to try liquid dye for marbling (rather than dye blocks). Any good recommendations? I wanted to try a Crafters Choice sampler, but they are water based, and the instructions say not suitable for wax. I'm prefer colors that I can use in soap as well. Any suggestions?

I'm surprised you can get micas to work. If I try to color my candles with mica, in order to use enough to get the color I want, it clogs the wick.

I use separate colors for soap and candles. Colorants are inexpensive enough, I don't mind having separate stash.
Water based colorant will not work for wax because of the density it will sink to the bottom, as wax generally floats in water.

I use oil based liquid candle dyes that I got from Peak, which is closed now, but the same type of colorant can be found at Lonestar. They are perfect for my candles and last for YEARS so it's a good investment.

 

[I_like_melts]

I mostly make melts, but its still a balancing act - if you use too much, it can affect the throw and clean up will be a bear because it sinks to the bottom of the melter. You may also get more color floating to the bottom of the mold if you use to much - in small doses it's great. The way it reacts to the heat when melting is quite a sight and my color options have vastly improved. It's really interesting to see it in palm wax. (I work with all kinds now lol) I also use mica to color aroma beads, in room/body sprays (personal use), and in various other projects. I kind of wanna make eyeshadow after spending $80 in a cosmetic store -_-


Is it a hazard if it sinks to the bottom of the melt at all? Does it leave a trail of color so to speak?

I will go browse Lonestar though, I have ordered wax and dye blocks from them and was quite pleased in the past.

 

[jcandleattic]

Is it a hazard if it sinks to the bottom of the melt at all? Does it leave a trail of color so to speak?

Probably not a hazard, but your customers may not be happy with the clean up of it. I know I wouldn't be.
I guess for me, since it's not meant to be used in wax, I don't use it in wax and because of the experience I had using it.
Especially when it's just as inexpensive and easy to use colorants specifically made for the application. I can get almost any color I want using the colors they have in the liquid oil based colorants I use.

 

[I_like_melts]

Thank you

I will look into the oil-based ones. Essentially, for solid colors, I tend to use mica (maybe dye blocks depending on how I want it to look like when melt - yes, I think about that lol) but the liquids are supposed to be good for marbling and swirls.

I've used dye blocks to make a large amount of tie dye brittle, but the colors gravitate toward the surface even after pouring.

 

[jcandleattic]

but the liquids are supposed to be good for marbling and swirls.

They are. I love making marble pillars. They are fun and easy, but a PITA to make with color blocks because the wax needs to be so cool when you are adding the colorant in to get the marbled/swirled look.

 

[I_like_melts]

They are. I love making marble pillars. They are fun and easy, but a PITA to make with color blocks because the wax needs to be so cool when you are adding the colorant in to get the marbled/swirled look.

For real, I chopped my blocks up in advance and swirled them how I wanted. I wanted thicker colors without them being overbearing, so it worked well in that particular project (a small amount of mica in the base to tint the wax then the dye stayed kind of on the top giving it a more unique look)

Thank you for your help - I think the oil bases may be worth the investment in the future.

 

[lyschelw]

I know there are a lot of ways to make swirled and marbled candles so my technique may be different.

If you want to produce swirls in candles (like the ones below) you can use any candle dye to do so as long as it is in a liquid form. You can use solid dyes and melt them in wax to make the liquid. I wouldn't use straight liquid dyes to swirl the color will be very concentrated and depending on the type of wax you are using may bleed a lot. If you were to create swirls just on the outside of the candle micas could work. But once the wax starts melting and goes to the wick it will clog and your candle won't burn.

To make swirls In jar candles we cool the wax down until it is just starting to look "grainy". Then using a metal turkey baster we add our warm colored wax. We do this with two or three different colors. We call these "Painted" candles. There is a base color and streaks. Simply melt the streak dye separately and have it warm and ready. (These were actually my first ones ever) Maybe I should do a video on this....


As for marble type candles, are you talking about ones like these? Micas could work as well because you could press the cooled whipped wax onto the sides and pour a hot core without mica.

 

[I_like_melts]

Here is one of the barks I made using dye blocks. I dont normally post pictures of my work here (since I still ask the occassional noob or legal question).

The surface was essentially dye blocks made into flakes, thrown onto the hot wax and moved around to create the streaks. This was an exclusive for a collab, and I'm looking to do something a bit different.

The look I'd like to try would be much much much subtler, capturing a few thin lines or splashes of color, not necessarily on the surface. Simular to your first example, but thinner and with the option to apply it on a smaller scale. When the wax melts in the warmer, we would see the color come out in thin lines before it mingles and settles as a solid color. A drop of color should create the effect. If I could use mica in that sense it would be great.

 

[lyschelw]

Very fun picture. So you want it to kinda "bleed" as it melts? I am not sure I am getting this. I am very bad trying to recreate someones concepts in my head.

I couldn't go any thinner with the first technique. If I think of anything else I will let you know. And if you make any let me know how it goes

 

[I_like_melts]

I will lol. Im always experimenting, just never used anything other than mica or dye blocks.