Good News: Caran d’Ache

I am very glad to be the messenger of such good news.

Caran d’Ache sent me their certificate of compliance .

I contacted them for products free of animal derivatives  – including manufacturing process- and for their cruelty-free status. And good tidings I bring.

Please see the Caran D’Ache certificate of compliance and pay attention to exceptions in product lines. Some products contain the pigment ivory black, which is of an animal source.

Neither products nor raw materials get tested on animals.

 

the cruelty-free status of Caran d’Ache
  • Caran d’Ache does not test on animals
  • does not commission other parties to do so.
  • their raw material suppliers do not test on animals nor commission animal testing for raw materials sourced by the company
  • Caran d’Ache does not use MSDS/ Material Safety Data Sheets, which data was collected through animal testing in the last decades.

 

Product lines free of animal derivatives (with exceptions of products containing the pigment ivory black):

Caran d’Ache – certificate of compliance issued September 13th, 2023

Source: mail contact

Holbein update : no changes

I initially contacted Holbein back in 2017 and now did so again, to see whether there might have been some changes to make  their coloured pencils ingredients now suitable. Unfortunately, it hasn’t changed. Back then I was informed of the use of animal fats to disperse the pigments. As of now, they cannot give any guarantee.

No further information was disclosed.

 

So here is my up to date listing for my compendium:

manufacturer: Holbein

currently no products free of animal derivatives available

cruelty-free level: no information disclosed

 

I am sorry about the disappointing news. I hope there will be changed in the future and I will circle back to them in some years.

source: mail contact

Faber-Castell

Following new Faber-Castell products are free of animal derivatives – including the manufacturing process:

  •  115210 Pitt Graphite Matt
  •  160701 Creative Marker – white as snow, Creative Marker blackout
  •  160806 Neon Marker
  •  2818.. brush line
  •  2828.. brush line
  •  all brushes that are part of drawing/painting sets

The material used for all brush hair is nylon.

Faber-Castell is a cruelty-free company on all levels; they do not test on animals, neither commission other parties to do so; the raw material chain is free of animal testing

They would like you to know, that animal testing for art-, writing- and drawing materials/ supplies is banned in Europe.

No animal based raw materials are ever used as auxiliary supplies/ additives in Faber-Castell’s entire production.

source: mail contact

compendium entry

Faber-Castell website

Updated information : Faber-Castell

Here is the new updated information on Faber-Castell. All the previously listed products are still free of animal derivatives, which includes the packaging. Additionally, I asked about the watercolours in pan format and starter set in tubes, Albrecht Dürer watercolour marker, grip fountain pens, converter, pastel toned and metallic textmarker, notebook A5 and A6– those are free of animal derivatives as well. Unfortunately I do not know whether this includes the manufacturing cycle  just the finished products. Back in 2017, concerning Faber-Castell’s cruelty-free status, I received the reply, that they neither tested on animals nor commissioned animal testing; not in Europe and not anywhere else. A person in the chemistry department  also mentioned back then (2017) for as long as they can look back – 30 years – to their knowledge, there hadn’t ever been commissioned such testing. It was also pointed out to me (again, 2017), that animal testing for painting -, drawing -, and writing supplies was forbidden by law in Germany.

Bearing the 2017 information in mind, I also asked about an update on the company status about the topic but unfortunately, I did not get any information about it this time, so I will place the  cruelty-free status as undisclosed for now (because of lack of new information).

cruelty-free status: undisclosed for now concerning the 2021 update (in 2017, cruelty-free)

Here is my updated ( incomplete) list of products, free of animal derivatives (this includes the packaging; not known whether this extends to manufacturing cycle as well):

  • Gelatos
  • Polychromos coloured pencils
  • Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils
  • regular erasers, kneadable erasers, pencil erasers
  • all Pitt Artis products:
  • Pitt Artist pen and brush pen
  • Pitt calligraphy pen
  • Pitt Artist pen metallic
  • Pitt Artist pen sanguine /Rötel Pitt Artist
  • black lead / graphite pencils/Bleistifte
  • graphite aquarelle pencils
  • Art Grip aquarelle pencils
  • Pitt Pastel Pencils
  • jumbo lead pencils
  • mechanical pencils
  • mechanical pencil refills; coloured and lead ones
  • Pastel crayon Polychromos
  • tortillon/ estompe
  • soft pastels
  • oil pastel crayons
  • foldable watercup
  • Charcoal  natural Pitt/ Zeichenkohle
  • sharpener
  • Pitt Monochrome
  • Ecco Pigment
  • Grip lead pencils and mechanical pencils
  • Grip Textmarker & Textliner
  • Multimark Marker
  • Art & Graphic Water Brush
  • Graf von Faber-Castell inks
  • Goldfaber Coloured Pencils
  • Goldfaber Aqua Watercolour Pencils
  • Oil Colours (Creative Studio)
  • Synthetic brushes
  • Broadpen
  • Faber-Castell ink
  • Grip fountain pen
  • Albrecht Dürer watercolour marker
  • pastel textmarker
  • metallic textmarker
  • (ink) converter
  • watercolour in pans
  • watercolour starter set in tubes+
  • notebooks DinA5 and DinA6

All Faber-Castell coloured pencil ranges are free of animal derivatives.

Additional information provided by Faber-Castell – products free of animal derivatives:

  • all pencils
  • all mechanical pencils
  • biros
  • biro lead
  • all coloured pencils (including Albrecht Dürer and Polychromos)
  • the entire Pitt Artist line
  • Fineschreiber 1511
  • Gelatos
  • Creative Studio pastels
  • Creative Studio oil pastels
  • soft pastels
  • Polychromos pastels (art. nr. 128 …)
  • erasers, including kneadable ones
  • textliner 48
  • metallic textliner
  • Grip marker (flipchart, whiteboard, textmarker pens, permanent marker)
  • Multimarkt
  • all Uni-Ball products (attention: Faber-Castell is  the distributor not the manufacturer)
  • sharpener
  • graphite chalk/crayon (Graphitkreide)
  • ruler
  • graphite and polymer lead
  • indelible pencils (Kopierstifte)
  • felt pen and double-sided felt pens (Faserschreiber)
  • T-Shirt marker
  • tortillion / blending stump/ estompe/ Papierwischer
  • all lead for mechanical pencils, including coloured lead
  • sanguine  crayon (Rötelkreide)
  • Jumbo Grip neon
  • all chalk (alle Kreiden)
  • ink
  • watersoluble graphite pencils
  • Art Grip watercolour pencils
  • Pitt Pastel pencils
  • Connector Deckfarben (opaque paint in pans)
  • foldable watercup
  • charcoal (zeichenkohle)
  • Pitt Monochrome
  • Ecco Pigment
  • brushes (art. nr. 481600)
  • Art & Graphic water brush
  • oil paint (tempera)
  • wax crayons art.nr. 122540, 120010, 120024
  • thermoplastic wax crayons art. nr. 122540, 120404, 120405
  • Pitt Graphite Crayons e.g. art.nr. 129902, 129905
  • Graphite Pure pencil art.nr. 1173…
  • natural charcoal art.nr. 129114, 129116, 129118, 129122
  • compressed charcoal (Reißkohle) art.nr. 129906, 129903, 129900, 129913, 129916
  • Creative Studio – watercolour paint in pans

Source: mail contact

2021: updated cruelty-free and vegan-friendly guidelines PDF

Here is my 2021 updated information sheet with guidelines for a cruelty-free company and vegan-friendly and vegetarian-friendly products, which I send out to companies.

At your disposal:

English Version (PDF)

German Version (PDF)

I have resumed sending out enquiries to update and broaden my compendium.

All the best,

 

 

Speedball Super Black India Ink contains shellac

Speedball has gotten back to me. The Super Black India Ink  is unfortunately not vegan, it contains shellac.

They checked my list, and the information about all the other products is still valid.

Here is the up-to-date list of vegan-friendly Speedball products:

  • all products of the drawing & lettering lines(Super Pigmented Acrylic Drawing and Calligraphy Ink, Nibs, Pen Cleaner, Pen Holders -they have an oblique pen nib holder and offer also calligraphy products for left-handed people and a cartooning pen set; the Speedball Textbook, Elegant Writer, Calligraphy Fountain Pens and ink cartridges)
  • Following Block and Screen Printing Products:                                               
  • water-soluble block printing ink
  • water-soluble block printing ink pearlescent base
  • water-soluble block printing ink retarder
  • water-soluble block printing ink extender
  • water-soluble block printing ink transparent extender base
  • fabric block printing ink
  • fabric block printing ink extender
  • water-soluble screen printing ink
  • acrylic screen printing ink
  • professional acrylic screen printing ink
  • fabric screen printing ink
  • opaque fabric screen printing ink
  • water-soluble transparent extender base (screen printing)
  • acrylic extender base (screen printing)
  • fabric and acrylic transparent base (screen printing)
  • fabric and acrylic screen retarder base
  • Professional Relief Inks
  • Glazes (Ceramics Products)

Compendium

Source: Mail contact

C.Kreul additional products

Vegan-friendly products by C.Kreul newly added to my list are:

  • Solo Goya Tempera Gouache
  • Solo Goya Pouring Liquid
  • Solo Goya Aqua Paint Marker

-Information about more products to come in the new year-

Here my C.Kreul product list:

  • Javana fabric paints
  • Javana Textil Potch
  • Javana texi mäx glitter, opak and sunny
  • Javana Phantom Pen
  • Javana Laundry Marker
  • Kreul Textil Liner
  • Hobby Line Acrylic Gloss, Satin and Matt Varnish
  • Hobby Line Art Potch (Varnish & Glue)
  • Hobby Line Foto Transfer Potch
  • Hobby Line Gemstone Glue
  • Solo Goya Glossy Varnish (Picture Varnish; Gemäldefirnis)
  • Solo Goya Matt Varnish (Picture Varnish; Gemäldefirnis)
  • Solo Goya Fixative
  • Solo Goya Acrylic Paints
  • Solo Goya Art Acryl Basic
  • Solo Goya Triton Acrylic Paint Marker
  • Solo Goya Tempera Gouache
  • Solo Goya Pouring Liquid
  • Solo Goya Aqua Paint Marker
  • Kreul Pic Tixx Pens, with the exception of Pic Tixx Candle Pens, those are vegetarian-friendly

PAPER:

  • Kreul Paper Water Color
  • Kreul Paper Mixed Media
  • Kreul Paper Sketching
  • Solo Goya Paper Sketching
  • Solo Goya Paper Water Color
  • Solo Goya Paper Oil Color
  • Solo Goya Triton Acrylic Pad

CANVAS

  • Kreul Canvas Board
  • Kreul Stretched Canvas
  • Solo Goya Stretched Canvas Basic Line
  • Solo Goya Stretched Canvas Premium Line

And Following products are vegetarian friendly:

  • Kreul Pic Tixx Candle pens
  • Chalky chalk paint
  • Solo Goya Triton Acylic Paints (several colours are only vegetarian-friendly)

Source: Mail contact

Faber-Castell’s ink and broadpen

The broadpen,Faber-Castell ink and their synthetic brush range are  products newly added to my Faber-Castell list of vegan-friendly products.

  • broadpen: document proof, 0,8mm line width, 12 available shades; lovely for writing – my favourites are turquoise, blue and black
  • synthetic brushes
  • Faber-Castell ink : available in four colours: black, blue, pink and turqoise; the shades blue and pink are erasable; black and turquoise cannot be erased; the ink is not document proof; (the waterproof and lightfast alternative by Faber-Castell are the Graf von Faber-Castell inks)

Here is the list of vegan-friendly products by Faber-Castell:

  • Gelatos
  • Polychromos coloured pencils
  • Albrecht Dürer watercolour pencils
  • regular erasers, kneadable erasers, pencil erasers
  • all Pitt Artist products
  • Pitt Artist pen and brush pen
  • Pitt calligraphy pen
  • Pitt Artist pen metallic
  • Pitt Artist pen sanguine /Rötel Pitt Artist
  • black lead / graphite pencils/Bleistifte
  • graphite aquarelle pencils
  • Art Grip aquarelle pencils
  • Pitt Pastel Pencils
  • jumbo lead pencils
  • mechanical pencils
  • mechanical pencil refills; coloured and lead ones
  • Pastel crayon Polychromos
  • paper wiper Estompe
  • soft pastels
  • oil pastel crayons
  • foldable watercup
  • Charcoal  natural Pitt/ Zeichenkohle
  • sharpener
  • Pitt Monochrome
  • Ecco Pigment
  • Grip lead pencils and mechanical pencils
  • Grip Textmarker & Textliner
  • Multimark Marker
  • Art & Graphic Water Brush
  • Graf von Faber-Castell inks
  • Goldfaber Coloured Pencils
  • Goldfaber Aqua Watercolour Pencils
  • Oil Colours (Creative Studio)
  • Broadpen
  • synthetic brushes
  • Faber-Castell ink

All Faber-Castell coloured pencil ranges are vegan-friendly.

Find Faber-Castell in the compendium.

Source: Mail contact

 

Derwent update

Thank you to eagle-eyed reader Isabella, for pointing out that more colours in both the Academy Colouring and Watercolour range are no longer vegan-friendly.  Derwent now provides information in their colour charts about products being vegan-friendly or not.

Derwent doesn’t carry out animal testing, but also can’t confirm whether all of the raw material is free of animal testing.

Derwent Products free of animal derivatives :

  • All Derwent Coloursoft pencils
  • All Derwent Inktense
  • All Derwent Graphitint pencils
  • All Derwent Aquatone
  • All Derwent Metallics
  • All Derwent Graphitone
  • All Derwent Pastel Pencils and Pastel blocks
  • All Derwent Charcoal Pencils and Charcoal XL Blocks
  • All Derwent Graphite Blocks and Graphite XL Blocks
  • Derwent Graphic Pencils B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H

 

Derwent Ranges that are only partially free of animal derivatives:

Source: Mail contact; Derwent website

 

 

 

Charvin not vegan-friendly

Unfortunately the brand Charvin is not vegan-friendly. After an initial short reply implying that the oils could be vegan, I asked about more details and highlighted parts in my information sheet about what vegan-friendly and cruelty-free are. After this I got the  reply that  they meant to say “they can’t be”. The reply does not hold the clue  to what it applied; to the vegan part or the cruelty-free part or both. I think they probably read the information sheet more properly after my second inquiry and then had to say no.  Nevertheless they did reply, which I  appreciate even if it is just to know that their products are not suitable for vegan-friendly minded people.

I contacted more companies, but haven’t heard back yet and it is probably fair to say, they won’t reply at all. If brands I contacted already over a year ago and now for a second time over a month + ago show no response, they just won’t.

I fill you in with the new batch of companies I wrote to in the next post and in the meantime will contact more companies.

 

Source: Mail contact