The basic ingredients in Crayola Markers are water and dye. A common experiment is to use paper chromatography to separate the dyes. When performing this experiment, you will find that not all Crayola Marker colours separate into different colours due to the nature of dyes utilized in creating marker colours. (Brown, violet and green markers work best). For example, only one dye is used to make our red colour marker, but a number of dyes are used to make our brown colour marker. In a chromatography experiment, the brown will separate into different colours; however, the red will not. A craft involving chromatography is available on our web site at chromatography craft.
Can you tell me how Crayola Coloured Pencils are made?
THE CRAYOLA COLOURED PENCIL STORY
In 1988, Crayola introduced coloured pencils in their product line to fulfill consumer requests. Today, Crayola markets a variety of colour selections in packages of 8, 12, 24, 36, 50 and our largest selection, the 64 count package. Crayola Coloured Pencils are manufactured in Brazil and Costa Rica due to their high-volume manufacturing capabilities.
Crayola Coloured Pencils are made from reforested wood. Reforested wood is wood taken from special tree farms grown specifically for gathering wood and are not part of the tropical rain forest. No tropical rain forest wood is used in making Crayola Coloured Pencils.
The process of making Crayola Coloured Pencils begins in the forest. Seedlings, which are young trees, are planted in fields much like a farmer plants a crop. Seedling crops grow into trees which are eventually used to make wood casings for the pencils. After a number of years, the trees are harvested, cut into even lengths, stacked onto trucks and shipped to the sawmill. Then, a new crop of seedlings is planted to replace those which have been harvested.
At the sawmill, lumber arriving by the truckload, is stacked in large piles and allowed to dry. Once dry, the lumber is fed into a bark stripping machine which removes all of the bark from each piece of lumber. Next, the lumber goes through a series of milling machines which cuts the lumber into rectangular slats. These slats are about as long as a coloured pencil and about three inches wide. The slats are the building blocks for the production of coloured pencils.
The slats are then transported to the pencil making plant. Here they are fed into another milling machine which cuts small semicircular grooves at regular intervals down the length of each slat. These grooved slats are now ready to accept a coloured pencil lead.
In this case, lead is used as a generic term to describe the coloured core of the pencils. Crayola Coloured Pencils have been certified nontoxic by the Art and Creative Material Institute (ACMI) and bear the Approved Product (AP) seal. This seal assures consumers the product meets specific quality standards and contains no known toxic substances in sufficient quantities to be injurious to the human body, even if ingested.
To make a coloured pencil lead, you need four raw materials: extenders which make up the body of the lead, a binder to hold the ingredients together, pigment which gives each type of coloured pencil its unique colour and water to help uniformly mix all the ingredients. First, the extenders, binders, pigments and water are placed in a large mixer which gently kneads them together into a uniform doughy substance. When the mixing is complete, the contents of the mixer are rolled into flat sheets. Finally, these sheets are machine-pressed into large, long solid cylinder shapes. These shapes are called cartridges.
Each cartridge, while still damp and pliable, is inserted into another machine called an extrusion press, where it is forced through a small tube. The tube has a diameter equal to that of a coloured pencil lead. As the long rope of wet coloured lead comes out, an automatic slicer cuts it into equal lengths approximately as long as a coloured pencil. Since the leads are still quite moist, they must be dried in large ovens before they become hard enough to insert into the slats.
To assemble the pencils, half of the grooved slats are fed into a machine which carefully lays a coloured pencil lead into each groove. Then a layer of glue is applied and a second grooved slat is placed on top of the slat holding the lead. Think of this as a pencil sandwich, with each slat acting like a piece of bread and the coloured leads acting like the filling.
These pencil sandwiches are then bound very tightly together and placed into storage to give the glue time to dry. Once the glue is dry, they are fed into another milling machine which cuts them into individual coloured pencils. Depending on the design of coloured pencils, they are cut into either round or hexagonal shapes.
Next, the pencils are fed into a machine to be painted. Paint drips down onto an o‑ring, which acts like a small paint brush to coat the pencils with the same colour paint as the coloured lead it contains. The pencils run down a conveyer belt to allow the paint to dry. The painted pencils are then sent to a machine to be automatically sharpened. Finally, brightly coloured finished pencils are packed into boxes which are shipped to neighborhood stores.
Crayola Coloured Pencils are used by people of all ages for everything from crafts to professional artwork and school projects. Crayola continues to offer assortments which meet our consumers artistic needs.
Popular Questions
Crayola® Crayons are made using primarily paraffin wax and colour pigment. While the basic ingredients remain consistent across all colours, variations may occur in special effects crayons.
Our crayons are crafted through a process that involves melting paraffin wax and blending it with colour pigments. This mixture is then poured into molding machines where it solidifies in four to seven minutes. For a behind the scenes look of the Crayola Crayon manufacturing process, check out our video, You’ve Got Crayola Crayons.
If your Crayola markers have become dry because the marker caps were left off for a brief time, we have some suggestions that may help! To revive water-based markers, such as Crayola regular, washable, or Ultra-Clean markers, you can try dipping the tip in warm water for about 5 seconds. After recapping the marker, we suggest waiting 24 hours before trying the marker again. If Crayola Gel Markers seem dry after remaining uncapped, try rubbing the marker back and forth on the drawing surface several times. If the marker still doesn’t work, replace the cap for 2 – 3 hours and then try using it again. If unsuccessful, you can dip the tip in warm water for about 5 seconds. After recapping the marker, wait 24 hours before attempting to use the marker again. Visi-Max Dry Erase Markers and Take Note! Dry Erase Markers are not water-based like traditional Crayola markers, and cannot be revived if they are allowed to dry out.
Crayola Canada’s community relations program supports non-profit organizations located across Canada, with an emphasis on the arts and education.
How To Apply
Requests for donations must be submitted on your organization’s letterhead with your contact information by email, or mail. If sending your request by email, you will receive an automatic reply acknowledging that your email has been received. If you do not receive this confirmation within 5 business days, please call Amanda Pascoe at Crayola Canada.
Email:apascoe@crayola.com
Phone Number: 1−705−212−4399
Mailing Address:
Crayola Canada
Donations Department
P.O. Box 120
15 Mary St. West
Lindsay, Ontario
K9V 4R8
Attn: Amanda Pascoe
What To Include
We ask that you include the following required information in your letter:
- Date of your event
- If you require confirmation earlier than one month prior to your event, please provide us with a time frame needed to receive a response.
- Details of your event
- Shipping Address
- Telephone number, if we need to contact you
- Contact person’s name, phone, and email address
- What you would like to receive – i.e., door prize, art supplies for craft area, etc.
Please be advised that it may take up to three weeks for your request to be reviewed. Only organizations selected to receive a donation will be contacted.
The right paint makes all the difference! Although all three types of Crayola® paint products are water-based, they aren’t all created alike. Check below to see what type of paint will work best for your next masterpiece.
- Crayola Portfolio Series™ Acrylic Paint and Crayola Acrylic Paint is permanent and somewhat lightfast on many different surfaces. They are generally used by adults and older children because of their permanence.
- Crayola Premier™ Tempera Paint is permanent on paper surfaces. One coat coverage is all you need! It is generally used by adults and older children because of their permanence.
- Crayola Tempera Paint is generally used by older children. It is an excellent choice for educators due to its superior mixability and blending of colors.
- Crayola Artista II® Washable Tempera Paints offers the same superior mixability and blending of colours as Crayola Tempera Paint, but in a formula that is washable from most launderable clothing and skin.
- Crayola Washable Paints are typically used by younger children because of their washability from most launderable clothing and skin. They are neither permanent nor lightfast.
Crayola Quick-Dry Paint Sticks and Take Note! Permanent Markers are formulated to allow you to create works of art on real or fake pumpkins.
Feel free to explore all your creative options. Experiment with Crayola acrylic paints, washable paints and non-washable markers. Keep in mind these water-based products work best on porous surfaces and will run or wash off when exposed to moisture. We encourage you to test the paint or marker product you are using to make sure it will adhere to your pumpkin and allow a little extra drying time. Regardless of the medium you use, we recommend displaying your “gourdgeous” masterpiece indoors.
Pumpkins that have been decorated with our products are not meant for consumption, since art materials are not food-grade.
Dry Model Magic:
- Paint with Crayola Watercolour, Tempera, Acrylic, and washable paints or decorated with Crayola Markers.
Wet Model Magic:
- Colour with watercolour paint and markers; however, the colours will be lighter, and the pieces may take longer to dry.
- Add colour before modeling by kneading drops of watercolour, tempera, acrylic, or washable paints into the compound.
- Create your own colours by mixing white and different colours of Model Magic.
Although the exact ingredients in our products are proprietary, we can provide a list of the most common ingredient requests NOT FOUND in products currently manufactured by Crayola. This list does not apply to licensed products, such as Crayola-brand bath, personal care, or food items, which are manufactured by licensing partners. Please check the back of the packaging for manufacturer details or contact us with any questions.
- Casein
- Eggs & Egg Shell
- Fish/Shellfish
- Latex*
- Milk
- Nut & Nut Oil (including Tree Nuts)
- Peanuts
- Red Dye #40
- Sesame & Sesame Oil
- Whey
*It is possible that latex gloves may have been worn during the manufacture and distribution of raw materials, components or finished goods.
If the ingredient in question is not included on this list and is due to a medical concern, please contact us at 1 – 800-CRAYOLA or visit our Support Page to send us an email.
Need information regarding gluten/wheat in our products? You can find that information here.
