Crayola Crayons are made primarily from paraffin wax and color pigment. This process is the same for all Crayola Crayon colors. The paraffin wax is melted and mixed together with pre-measured amounts of color pigments.
We purchase the powder pigments and either use individual colors or mix the pigments to produce the many colors of Crayola Crayons. The hot wax mixture is poured into molding machines. In about four to seven minutes, the crayons cool and become solid. We manufacture almost 3 billion crayons each year.
Pictures of the manufacturing process for Crayola Crayons are available for viewing at http://www.crayola.com/factory/preview/factory_floor/crayon_mfg.htm.
Crayola Crayons begin to melt at around 105 degrees F. The melting point is the same for all regular Crayola Crayons, however, because of the density and amount of pigment included in various crayons, the thickness or viscosity of the mixture will vary.
For more information on science experiments with Crayola products, be sure to visit http://www.crayola.com/colorcensus/science/index.cfm.