What is the best dye to add to vintage lava liquid?

[VintageK]

Hi gang, I have been meaning to repair my vintage enchantress decorator lava lamp much like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130560465480...

 

but my liquid has lost its blue and gone clear, do any of you recommend a good and safe dye to add to the original liquid?  Would store-bought food coloring work? Or is there something better you would recommend. Thanks! ~Kyle

[wizard of ooze]

I have had success with McCormick food coloring on a couple of lavas.

[VintageK]

Cool I thought that might be good. Has it ever faded over time did you notice?

[Autumn]

I use the same dye for all of my lamps and I have yet to see any fading. I use the neon blue because it most resembles the blue used by lava lite. Be careful not to add too much dye or it will ruin the color of the lamp. Adding too much dye can cause the wax to look odd. For example, I added too much green dye to a blue/white to make a green white and the top of the wax blobs looked brown.

I am still working on this page, but it contains a lot of useful information pertaining to your question.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/page/liquid-swapping

VintageK said:

Cool I thought that might be good. Has it ever faded over time did you notice?

[krissyfromswindon]

i always use food colouring

[LampHead]

I have also used McCormick brand food coloring with no problems.

[Erin]

Ditto on the McCormick non-gel food coloring.