Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this but maybe you can help me out. I'm trying to create colored blocks of ice for a winter project but having mixed results. My first attempt was food coloring and water, but to my surprise the food coloring was compressed to a small puddle on the bottom leaving the ice perfectly transparent. My next attempt was printer ink and water, which produced very similar results. I then tried Tintex (powdered) fabric dye and water, this yielded much better results but still not as uniform as I would like. It also left a thin layer of unfrozen water and dye on the surface, making the block messy to handle.
I admit I don't know much about chemistry but I suspect the base ingredients in the coloring is the problem, as most are substances that do not freeze. The food coloring contains a base of citric acid and sodium benzoate, the printer ink doesn't specify the contents but probably contains ethylene glycol, and the fabric dye contains salts. Does anyone know of a way to neutralize or remove these base ingredients so that these mixtures can completely freeze, and perhaps be more uniform?
Thanks for any advice.