Quick Tip: Prismacolor Pencils (UPDATED)PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. I MAKE NO CLAIM THAT THIS IS SAFE OR SMART TO DO. IF YOU DO THIS, YOU ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OUTCOME OF YOUR ACTIONS. IF YOU AGREE, FEEL FREE TO CONTINUE READING.
It’s all happened to us . . . you sharpen, sharpen, sharpen, and the point of your thick leaded Prismacolor pencil keeps breaking. It’s frustrating, especially if you find that the entire batch is bad . . . So what do you do? (I’ll stop there at the risk of sounding like an infomercial)
The answer is the microwave!
Yes, your microwave. Better yet, if you have one in your studio, you won’t have to take all your pencils home. The thing is, sometimes when you drop your pencil, or bang it around for a bit, or sometimes through no fault of your own, the entire lead of the pencil is shattered. The Microwave heats up the lead inside the pencil and essentially fuses it together. Now I haven’t done this for some time, so do so at YOUR OWN RISK, but I’ve found success in the past by popping it in there on high for as little as 3 -4 seconds. Any more and the outer coating of the pencil would bubble and crackle. I also don’t know if you leave it in too long if the lead will then explode, but hey, proceed with caution.
Once nuked, your pencils should be good as . . . well . . . microwaved pencils can be 
UPDATE -> Sorry! by lead I mean the waxy core of a prismacolor pencil. Not a graphite pencil!
cool. i’ll try that out
what the…I tried this and it blew up my mom’s microwave! -jk
Uh…heads up if your pencil has metallic printing.
Hmmmm I tried it and had no problems. Maybe left it in there too long?
I need to try this! My cat is forever knocking pencils off my table causing me lament the experience within the wood shell casing.
Did you find that out by absent mindedly putting pencils in the microwave or on purpose? :-p
friend of mine told me . . . i didn’t believe him, then I tried it and it worked
cool! do u put it in before u sharpen it, or after it breaks?
I only do it after it breaks or I find that the pencil keeps losing its point. Then I’ll put it in and zap it for a bit then resharpen it.
ok sweet ill give it a try!
“the entire lead of the pencil is shattered”
Ummm… How old are your pencils? I know that for all of MY life, we’ve had GRAPHITE pencils, not lead, due to the whole lead poisoning thing.
You should really be more clear. Does this only work with pencils from forever ago or did you just use the wrong word every time?
Sorry! by lead I mean the waxy core of a prismacolor pencil. Not a graphite pencil!
[...] Via IDSketching.com [...]
[...] of something unique you can bring to the table. One of our most unique and popular posts was on microwaving prismacolor pencils to keep them from breaking. That post alone brought over 10,000 new visitors to [...]
[...] of something unique you can bring to the table. One of our most unique and popular posts was on microwaving prismacolor pencils to keep them from breaking. That post alone brought over 10,000 new visitors to [...]
hi Spencer,
I have to admit that I find your website incredibly significant in getting ID students (like myself) to dive into sketching. Your tips and tutorials are really great. I have recommended this website to many of my friends and colleagues.
However, with this advice – microwaving your pencils – I believe you are asking for a law suit. These objects are NOT meant to be nuked and you should be a aware of the consequences your reader might experience. Trust me, someone’s pencil will catch fire eventually.
If I were you I would delete this posting.
I wish you all the best, and I am looking forward to see what you have to show next.
If you read through the post, you’ll notice the warning – proceed at your own risk. I make no claim that this is safe, nor do I assume responsibility for anyone’s actions, so if you overlook the warning, it’s on you. Thanks for the warning, and I hope you don’t catch on fire either. Hehe.
Oh great tip I’ll have to try It out In case mine ever break! What’s best to sharpen them In hand held sharpener, Electirck sharpener, Or the kind they come with?
Personally, I use an auto-stop electric sharpener. That way the pencils aren’t wasted by over sharpening them.
Great idea. It would be similar to leaving your pencils in the sunny window for a while. Of course you need to live where the sun shines and it gets warm. I had also heard that you can put them in the oven for a short time. (I don’t remember what temp and how long)
Just to let others know, the companies who manufacture colored pencils all refer to the colored wax as lead.
” a. Any of various, often graphitic compositions used as the writing substance in pencils.
b. A thin stick of such material. ”
Which by definition could be graphite, charcoal, or a colored wax stick. The term in Spencer’s instructions is a generic reference to the center portion of a pencil and the casing is made up of wood covered by paint.
I’ve been reading through the various articles on the site and I have to admit that I found this particular advice to clearly demonstrate your skill at thinking outside of the box! Most manufacturers are pretty secretive concerning the exact formulation for their cores, which makes it difficult if not impossible to determine accurately with which brand this technique will work and with which it will not. Without being an expert on the topic, after some research, I determined that the average coloured core contains a significant portion of vegetable-based wax as the primary filler.
If a core shatters, it is often, as others have indicated in previous posts, because the age of the pencil (or even its manner and place of storage) have left the core filler material brittle. This is indicative of a lower than desired level of moisture within the filler, which gives it pliability and even a measure of density. This led me to think of a few other methods that could also give some good results for your older pencils:
- Temporary storage in a higher heat/humidity area, such as a bathroom
- Using an iron on low heat/steam setting and rolling over pencils between towels
- Using a re-purposed cigar humidor to store older pencils until they have regained their original moisture content.
Just a thought… I have run into this problem only a few times in my life and I’ve always attributed the problem to improper storage (close to electric heaters) and UV exposure (clear storage containers, near windows). That can be an issue for some art shops too!