Speaking of crayons, what is the specific ingredient in them that makes them smell the way they do?

It’s stearic acid – beef fats.
And also, LOTS of things smell like crayons, the VW Jetta is one of them. :P

@asmonet What part of the Jetta is made from beef fat? I always thought it was a cute car. Now I am not so sure.

I don’t have any sources for this, but a friend of mine who is a VW mechanic said there is wax used in some panels of their cars that gets soft in high heat areas. The wax is used as an insulator and sound dampener. When it gets hot, the wax melts slightly and it smells like crayons. Other makes have similar issues – apparently. This is like the most I have ever known about cars.

@josie: Also, you’d be hard pressed to find a car not made with some amount of animal byproducts, everything from the obvious leather trim to the less obvious plastics and the above mentioned wax panels depends on an animal. The only ‘vegan’ car I’ve seen is the Fisker Karma, and even that has leather options and starts at a like 90k. So, really, the Jetta is no worse than the Camry, the Focus or whatever else you want to buy.

Potential.

I thought the ingredient was, like, wax?

They don’t smell that much different from candles, to my nose.

@the100thmonkey Stearic acid is rendered fat (tallow) which can be made into candles, soap or other wax(y) products, like crayons. The crayons the @josie is thinking of could also have been made with paraffin wax – which is made into candles as well so maybe that’s what you smell?

The stearic acid bit must explain why dogs love to eat them!

I’ve read that the smell of Crayola crayons is one of the ten most commonly recognized scents. Probably that’s specific to the U.S. I don’t remember where I read it. Not all crayons smell (or perform!) like Crayolas.

@asmonet – I think you’re right!