One of the problems with using emptied eggs in classes is that students will sometimes inadvertently break the wax seal. It can happen while they are writing their designs in the area of the lower pole of the pysanka or, in some cases, from fooling around with a hot pysachok.

Dye will leak into the egg during subsequent dye baths, and may stay hidden inside the egg until it comes time to remove the wax.  The act of heating the egg to remove the wax will also cause the dye liquid to be expelled from the egg, with messy results.This is the point at which the student will usually approach the teacher for help.

What do you do?  First, hold the egg with the drain hole at the top, and open the drain hole completely.  This is done most easily with a hot pysachok.

Next, insert a very large wick made of paper towel. Hold the egg with the drain hole downwards.  If there is dye inside, it will begin to drain out via the paper towel:

Note: there can sometimes be A LOT of dye, so do this over a safe surface (I try to do it over a washable plate or similar).

You can speed the drainage of the dye by lightly heating the egg near a candle.  If this is the final color, and the next step would have been wax removal, you can hold it quite closely, as above.  If the pysanka is still in progress, hold it at a distance. 

Let the dye wick out.  Change wicks if necessary (and it sometimes is).

If this problem occurs in one of your own pysanky, not in a class or urgent situation, remove/open the plug, place a wick, and let it drain. Change wicks if necessary. You do not need to apply heat, simply give the dye time to drain our at its own pace. Once the egg has had time to dry, replace the plug and continue writing.

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