CPSA-approved colored pencil materials must come in a solid, hard, dry form with a pencil-like appearance. This includes regular wood-cased colored pencils, woodless colored pencils and sticks, and water-soluble pencils and sticks.

CPSA-approved colored pencil materials cannot be brushed off. This requirement excludes materials with minimal or no binders, including soft pastel sticks, pastel pencils, and dry (unbound) pigments. While it is possible (and advisable) to brush off stray crumbs of pigment left behind after applying colored pencil, the colored pencil layer itself remains completely intact and unaffected

CPSA-approved colored pencil materials must dry completely. Colored pencils, when used dry and without heat, will deposit one or more cohesive, blended layers of color that are dry to the touch and cannot be easily removed. It is permissible to blend the pigment layer(s) of colored pencils with water or other solvents or with heat, but the colored pencils will once again be completely dry to the touch after the solvents have evaporated or the layers have cooled.