What dyes are used in Crayola Markers?

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 colors separate into different colors due to the nature of dyes utilized in creating marker colors. (Brown, violet and green markers work best). For example, only one dye is used to make our red color marker, but a number of dyes are used to make our brown color marker. In a chromatography experiment, the brown will separate into different colors; however, the red will not. A craft involving chromatography is available on our web site at chromatography craft.