X

Hasbro just trademarked Play-Doh's smell. Oh, the memories

Just sniff. Don't eat.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
playdoh
Enlarge Image
playdoh

Play-Doh now comes in more colors than you remember from your childhood.

Hasbro

Think back to peeling the lid off a container of Play-Doh. Even if you haven't touched the pliable modeling toy in years, you probably still remember how it smells. 

Hasbro, maker of Play-Doh, has officially trademarked that scent through the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the company announced Friday. 

Hasbro describes the distinctive eau de Play-Doh as a "combination of a sweet, slightly musky, vanilla-like fragrance, with slight overtones of cherry, and the natural smell of a salted, wheat-based dough."

Play-Doh has been around since 1956, so generations have grown up with the squishy, colorful toy. 

The odor comes from the ingredients. "Throughout its history, the 'recipe' for Play-Doh compound has remained largely unchanged," Hasbro says

Hasbro's patent for a "starch-based modeling compound" lists a host of potential ingredients, including water, salt, lubricant, surfactant, starch-based binder, preservative, hardener, fragrance and colorant.  

Some people love the smell of Play-Doh, others not so much. If you're one of the former, then you might want to check out Play-Doh perfume from the Demeter Fragrance Library, which is aimed at "highly creative people, who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood."