Questions and answers

Question

Are STOCKMAR products free of allergens?

Answer

All STOCKMAR products are free of the following allergens: Eggs and egg shells, peanuts, fish, gluten/cereals containing gluten, shellfish/crustaceans, lupines, milk/lactose, casein, nuts and nut oils, sulfur dioxide, celery, mustard, sesame and sesame oil, and mollusks. In addition, we do not use preservatives like parabens, formaldehyde releasers, and isothiazolinones, including methylisothiazolinone. The allergen soy is only contained in the colour wheel paints.

Question

Which STOCKMAR products are vegan?

Answer

Our purely vegan products (i.e. free of animal ingredients) are: Opaque colours, coloured pencils, colour wheel paints, decorating wax. In its wax crayons (blocks and crayons) STOCKMAR uses pure beeswax, which is essential to these products due to its special light and warmth qualities. Fel tauri powder (ox gall) is used for the watercolour paints (with the exception of the colour wheel paints). No animal testing is carried out for STOCKMAR products. 

Question

For which age groups are STOCKMAR products suitable?

Answer

STOCKMAR products are suitable for ages 3 and up*. They promote various levels of sensory perception. The sense of sight is promoted through harmoniously coordinated colours (based on Goethe’s colour wheel) and the sense of smell through the pleasant scent of beeswax. The transparency of the colours appeals to the emotions, and the pleasant texture and the ergonomic properties of the material foster the sense of touch. By drawing shapes, children also learn fine-motor skills, and the colour gradients train their sense of balance.
*Small parts pose a choking hazard as children under 3 years of age tend to put things in their mouths. We have included a corresponding warning notice on the packaging.

Question

Can I use STOCKMAR products for purposes other than painting on paper?

Answer

STOCKMAR products are manufactured as artist or school paints for painting on paper or other substrates, which ultimately serve as media for paintings/works of art. There are hardly any limits to the artistic diversity here. However, they are not intended as food colouring and are therefore not suitable for use in any food-related product or field. Likewise, STOCKMAR products are not intended for cosmetic purposes. We are often asked whether STOCKMAR paints (especially watercolour and opaque paints) are suitable for painting wooden toys. The paints shine beautifully on light, untreated wood, but are not water- and saliva-resistant, which is required for toys. If you want to use painted wood for decorative purposes, we recommend that you finish the painted wooden objects with a protective coat (varnish, wood glaze, wax, oil, or a similar treatment). 

Question

How lightfast are STOCKMAR colours?

Answer

The pigments used in our STOCKMAR products have a lightfastness of about 7 to 8 (according to the Blue Wool Scale).



Questions and answers

Question

Why has the colour of a STOCKMAR product changed? Explained in detail using watercolour paints Ultramarin and White as an example.

Answer

The educational and artistic concept behind STOCKMAR products is what makes them so attractive. Developed along pedagogical lines, the paints, pencils and modelling materials appeal to the senses of children in all age groups. We want to foster creativity and support the child’s development with our products as best we can as they ‘enter the realm of experience’.

Our product development and manufacturing processes focus not only on art education and aesthetic considerations but also on legal requirements. Moreover, STOCKMAR sets standards of quality for all its products which are much higher than the European Union’s harmonised standards that apply to our products, such as the EC Directive on the Safety of Toys (2009/48/EC) and the relevant harmonised standard EN 71.

Amendments to statutory regulations sometimes mean that the components of various product groups have to be adjusted. Most recently, this affected the watercolours Ultramarine Blue (no. 10) and White (no. 16). We therefore changed the formula with effect from May 2021, and the new versions are already available from retailers. We would like to make a statement in response to the enquiries we have received about the new appearance of these colours.

Our product development team has been working on these two colours for more than five years, with the goal of preserving the familiar shades. Moreover, other important aspects of Waldorf education are taken into account when developing a formula. Each shade is always closely linked with others in the product range and integrates harmoniously into the STOCKMAR colour wheel.

STOCKMAR insists on using carefully selected raw materials and pigments when manufacturing its non-toxic, high-quality products. We maintain a constant dialogue with our suppliers with this in mind. Since it is difficult to obtain certain pigments that meet our criteria, we spent months looking for alternatives to the ultramarine pigment we had been using to date.

Our staff in the development lab developed a number of first-rate ultramarine shades, but these did not meet regulatory requirements. Other shades did not come up to standard because they did not produce a warm red-violet when mixed with STOCKMAR Carmine Red or a warm green when mixed with STOCKMAR Golden Yellow.

After a great deal of trial and error, we decided to change our development strategy, paying more attention to the importance of mixing ratios in the school product range, maintaining the balance of the STOCKMAR colour wheel and meeting legal requirements. After further intensive development work, we settled on the current shades.

There is no denying that these colours may look quite different to the trained eye. The STOCKMAR watercolour paint Ultramarine Blue still contains ultramarine pigments, but in significantly smaller quantities that comply with regulations. The concentrated paint looks similar to our Prussian Blue and the colour wheel blue. The difference becomes much more apparent when one part paint is mixed with five parts water in the manner typical of watercolours.

Despite the change, we are grateful for this development since the new colours have also brought forth some positive characteristics.

  • We will still be offering Ultramarine Blue and White in our range of watercolours for educational work.  
  • The new colours are a harmonious part of the STOCKMAR colour wheel and blend marvellously with others in the product range such as Carmine Red and Golden Yellow. Moreover, the new shade of ultramarine seems less ‘egoistic’ than the shade we offered before.  
  • Both shades are much more suitable for watercolour painting yet can still be used for glazing and mixing pastel hues.  

With all the resources the world gives us, we can offer precisely these colours.

Question

What do the quality seals on STOCKMAR products mean?

Answer

Ever since STOCKMAR began manufacturing wax crayons, we have been wholeheartedly committed to producing only products that are entirely safe both in terms of health and the environment. To ensure this, we naturally select ingredients that comply with all current European Community rules and regulations for product safety (CE marking). More specifically, requirements for children’s toys are codified in the Toy Safety Directive. STOCKMAR products are tested according to DIN EN 71. And wherever we feel that these provisions don’t go far enough, we apply the pertinent food and cosmetics safety provisions. STOCKMAR thus has a comprehensive monitoring program that takes into account all hazardous material groups that can be present in raw materials or after production in wax crayons, watercolour paints, modelling beeswax, decorating wax, opaque colours, and coloured pencils. In cooperation with an independent laboratory, we carry out finished-product controls and raw-material controls on all raw-material batches delivered to us without exception. We display our consistent product quality, achieved through careful ingredient selection and controls, on our packaging. Here customers will find the CE label as well as additional STOCKMAR seals of quality like the quality certificates “spiel gut,” awarded by the German association Arbeitsausschuss Kinderspiel und Spielzeug e.V. (www.spielgut.de), and “AP – conforms to ASTM D-4236,” awarded by the American organization ACMI (www.acmiart.org).

Question

Where can I get a product data sheet?

Answer

Download link to publications/product data sheets

Question

Where are STOCKMAR products manufactured?

Answer

STOCKMAR wax crayons (blocks and crayons), watercolour paints, modelling beeswax and decorating wax are produced at our headquarters in Kaltenkirchen. STOCKMAR coloured pencils are produced in Taiwan; we procure our opaque colours from the same Taiwanese producer from their production facility in mainland China. The cooperation we enjoy with partners around the world is based on the high standards we both set in terms of quality, health, and environmentally friendly production methods.

Question

How do I properly dispose of STOCKMAR products?

Answer

All of our packaging is made of recyclable materials such as cardboard, tinplate, wood and PE. They can be disposed of or recycled with the respective household waste. STOCKMAR products themselves are environmentally friendly and biodegradable. However, as some raw-material components have a rather long decomposition cycle, they are not suitable for composting.

Question

What is to be said about the STOCKMAR colour range?

Answer

The STOCKMAR colour wheel is based on Goethe’s theory of colour. Indeed, the harmony between the three primary colours of red, yellow and blue and the secondary colours of orange, green and violet follows this principle. To achieve this harmony, STOCKMAR continuously tests the pigments available on the market. The colourants must meet many criteria, such as safety for use in toys, insolubility in the material to be coloured and in water (and thus physiologically non-reactive), brilliant and transparent in colour, heat and migration resistance, and high lightfastness.

Questions and answers

Question

How can I remove stains caused by STOCKMAR products?

Answer

We all know there are no limits to an artist’s creativity—no matter the age. If an unsuitable medium is used, the following procedures have proven to be effective for removing wax crayon stains:

  1. Wax can be absorbed with absorbent paper (e.g. blotting paper) and a hot iron. Place the paper on the affected area and iron it hot until the wax is absorbed by the paper.

  2. Try to heat the wax with a hair dryer and remove it with a soft cloth.

  3. For heat-sensitive materials, use a cold degreaser, available from any standard hardware store. Please try it first on an inconspicuous place to ensure that it does not cause discolouration or damage. Please also note the instructions on the package.

  4. In case of doubt, take it to a professional cleaner.  

Watercolour paints can be easily removed with soap and water. For particularly stubborn stains, various stain tinctures or special stain sprays can help. These are available from specialist retailers.

Question

How do I preserve my artwork?

Answer

To ensure the longevity of a work of art, we recommend using fixatives. Depending on the application system, you can acquire these from specialist retailers.

Question

What can I do with STOCKMAR products?

Answer

There are no limits to an artist’s creativity—no matter the age. You can find some suggestions here:  publications/creative tips