How are Crayons Made
Crayons are a instrument used for coloring, drawing or writing. They are popular for use with young children because they are cheap, non-toxic, not messy, and easy to use. The type of crayons most common today were not invented until the 19th century. There are many different manufacturers of crayons today, but the most famous is the Crayola company. Let’s take a look at how crayons are made.
How are crayons manufactured?
Most crayons are made of wax, such as paraffin or beeswax. This wax is then melted to create a liquid and mixed with non-toxic powdered pigment, which gives the crayon its color. The liquid wax and pigment is then poured into crayon shaped molds. The crayons are then left to cool and harden or, to speed up the process, cold water is used to cool and harden the crayons. Excess wax is then scraped away and the crayons are removed from the molds. They are then inspected, labelled and put into a machine to sort them into groups of colors. The crayons are then packaged ready for shipping to the store.
You can watch crayons being made in the video below:
Did you know?
Crayons begin to soften at about 40 °C (105 °F) and will melt between 53 – 63 °C (128-147 °F). Some people melt down old crayons and reform them into new crayons. Melting crayons has also been used in contemporary art.
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