Some lovely photos of beginners' pysanky on social media prompted me to offer this tip. I publish weekly “Tuesday Tips” on FB. This one brought to mind a troubleshooting opportunity.
"Today’s Tip is that if any residue of beeswax remains on your pysanka, wipe it off with a cotton ball or tissue of paint thinner or lighter fluid, try paint thinner or lighter fluid with discretion, using a q-tip, at any step of the dyeing process. “Paint thinner” or “lighter fluid” will also remove any unwanted pencil marks."
If you haven’t varnished your pysanky yet, it would benefit for this tip of using paint thinner (hardware store) or lighter fluid (I get mine at 7-11) to remove the pencil lines. The pencil lines do a great job of providing guidelines, but the downside is that it’s usually used on the white part of the egg, and will show up there. I use cotton pads (the type used for make-up from the drug store) or simply Kleenex. Surprisingly, it does not remove the dye. Just be very gentle with pressure.
