# Coloring (book) question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406 "2012-05-29T01:17:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/1 "2012-05-29T01:17:57Z")
> [@The Sun isn't yellow.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/40): > > Plus everybody knows you would use white for the moon. šŸ˜ƒ This quote from another thread (click the blue chevron to see) made me curious. Back when you colored a lot, did you actually use the white crayon to color something white on white paper, or did you just leave it paper colored? Pick the one you did most often. I only used the white crayon to write on Easter eggs. Voting is public. Because, thatā€™s why. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/2 "2012-05-29T01:25:10Z")
I used the white crayon, because the coloring books of my childhood were cheap and the paper was greyish. Extra whitening was required. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/3 "2012-05-29T01:31:36Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I used the white crayon, because the coloring books of my childhood were cheap and the paper was greyish. Extra whitening was required. Mine were sort of tan instead of grey, but yeah. ---
**Author:** ![evasgram](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ec9cab/32.png) [@evasgram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evasgram)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/4 "2012-05-29T02:12:10Z")
Even if it hardly shows up, the white just gives it that extra texture that is missing if you just leave it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/5 "2012-05-29T03:17:42Z")
I colored it with the white crayon. Like **evasgram** said, it gives texture to the picture. Not coloring it in makes it look like you forgot to finish the picture. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/6 "2012-05-29T03:31:30Z")
I would use it sometimes, but not as a rule. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/7 "2012-05-29T04:13:20Z")
Canā€™t remember ever really using the white crayon. It was useless for everything except, as **BigT** mentions, Easter eggs. Even on colored construction paper, the white crayon would barely register. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/8 "2012-05-29T04:43:51Z")
The white crayon always picked up flecks of color from the other crayons in the box, too. So anything colored ā€œwhiteā€ with that crayon ended up more ā€œtutti-frutti.ā€ Also, IMHO, the white crayon wax didnā€™t seem to be as soft as the other colors, so you had to put a lot more pressure on the crayon to get the color onto the paper. And it was CHEAP paper! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/9 "2012-05-30T02:51:00Z")
Wow. A lot more even than I thought. Cool. And while I do remember sometimes coloring on non-white paper, most of the time it was white. Half the time, that was because it was photocopied. To this day I have a reticence to actually color in a coloring book. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/10 "2012-05-30T03:17:53Z")
Cheap books - no photocoies when I was young. When my kid was that young (one of the unsung bonuses of having kids, playing with their stuff :D) most of her packs of crayons didnā€™t come with a white option. The bigger sets did, but I think the 12 packs and under were unlikely to include a white crayon. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/11 "2012-05-30T03:50:46Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > The white crayon always picked up flecks of color from the other crayons in the box, too. So anything colored ā€œwhiteā€ with that crayon ended up more ā€œtutti-frutti.ā€ > > Also, IMHO, the white crayon wax didnā€™t seem to be as soft as the other colors, so you had to put a lot more pressure on the crayon to get the color onto the paper. And it was CHEAP paper! > ~VOW Hahaha, I havenā€™t thought about that in years. I remember being so frustrated trying to scrape off the other colours from the white and I could just never get them completely off. ---
**Author:** ![fpc89099](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/35a633/32.png) [@fpc89099](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fpc89099)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coloring-book-question/623406/12 "2012-05-30T17:02:47Z")
I donā€™t remember ever using a white crayon in coloring books. I was a child of the 80s and books back then had slightly tan pages. I have used white crayons on easter eggs. Itā€™s s neat to draw a design, dye them, and see your white design pop out.