What Crayola says is in the box
Some vegan pages say standard wax crayons contain beef tallow, by way of stearic acid used to bind the wax and pigment. Others say there is none. Crayola’s own published answers say less than either side does. On ingredients, the company says this.
Primary source 01 / 07
Crayola® Crayons are made using primarily paraffin wax and color pigment.
The word primarily leaves room for other components, and Crayola also says that special effects crayons vary. It says the exact recipe is proprietary in a second answer, where it lists ingredients that people commonly ask about and that its products do not contain.
Primary source 02 / 07
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.
That list includes casein, eggs and egg shell, fish and shellfish, milk and whey, so the dairy, egg and seafood ingredients are ruled out by the company’s own statement. Tallow, stearic acid and beeswax are not on it, in either direction. Crayola’s answer also says customers can call or text 1-800-CRAYOLA with a specific question.
The stearic acid question
Stearic acid turns up in crayon recipes. A US patent for a crayon wax, granted in 1976, describes a standard composition as paraffin wax with a few percent of microcrystalline wax, plus stearic acid and dye or pigment, and gives stearic acid a typical range of 10 to 50 percent by weight.
Primary source 03 / 07
Additionally, stearic acid and the desired dye or pigment is added to make the complete crayon wax composition.
A conservation paper on wax drawing media, presented at the American Institute for Conservation in 1997, lists the ingredients of school crayons as a category. It names beef tallow and stearic acid alongside the waxes. It describes the class of product, not any one brand’s recipe.
Primary source 04 / 07
Ingredients: Wax (paraffin, microcrystalline, polyethylene, beeswax, ozokerite, japan, carnauba), colorant (pigment or dye), stearic acid (palmitic acid), tallow (beef), filler (kaolin, talc).
Stearic acid itself is not one substance from one source. Wikipedia’s entry says it is found in many animal and vegetable fats but is usually higher in animal fat, and that commercial stearic acid is obtained from fats and oils. The Vegetarian Society, which lists it as E570 on its hidden-ingredients page, gives the two sources directly.
Primary source 05 / 07
Stearic acid also labelled as E570, is natural fat from cows, sheep and pigs. Also found in plant sources.
The gap is therefore specific. A crayon that contains stearic acid can be vegan or not depending on its source, and we found no Crayola statement that says which. We also did not find the claim that Crayola confirmed animal-derived stearic acid on Crayola’s own site. So for the market leader the answer is usually, on what the company publishes, with the source of one likely ingredient unstated.
Makers that say more
Some makers answer the question outright. Faber-Castell, in its published FAQ, names which of its crayon lines are vegan.
Primary source 06 / 07
The Gelatos watercolour crayons, Creative Studio oil crayons and pastel crayons, graphite crayons, erasable crayons Jumbo Grip and Triangular wax crayons are vegan.
Crayon Rocks says on its own site that its crayons are made from natural soy wax, a plant wax. It does not use the word vegan. Honeysticks is the other kind of answer. It says its crayons are crafted from 100 percent pure beeswax and food-grade pigments and contain no paraffin.
Primary source 07 / 07
Honeysticks beeswax crayons are crafted using 100% pure beeswax and food-grade pigments for colour.
Beeswax crayons
A crayon sold as beeswax is made from a bee product. The Vegan Society’s description of a vegan diet excludes honey and other animal foods, and beeswax crayons are the clear, labelled exception in the aisle. If the box says beeswax, it is not vegan. If it does not, the box will not tell you the stearic acid source either.