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Step 11Finished? or not Finished?
Voila! Your done! Well, at least you can be... you can stop here and have a 100% authentic traditionally dyed egg. Eggs left whole (unblown) will eventually dry out over time. As the egg dries out, it releases gasses slowly through the shell. If the egg is kept in a open area with good circulation, this helps it age safely. If the egg is kept in an enclosed space (or sometimes just out of spite on the part of the egg) the gasses can build up and cause the egg to "pop" cracking it's shell and ruining it. Exploding eggs do not smell good... are not fun to clean up... and can scare the heck out of you at 2 am. How do you avoid them?
Option 1: start with blown egg shells to dye. While this avoids all the potential problems of working with whole eggs, there is a major downside. Blown eggs float. In order to dye a blown egg, you need to plug the hole(s) with wax to keep it from filling with dye. This means that the blown egg acts like a balloon and needs to be constantly held below the surface of the dye. Whole eggs have the advantage of sinking in the dye and not needing supervision. Another disadvantage of this method is that the untreated dyed egg shell surface can be damaged by moisture and is more likely to fade.
Option 2: (our preferred) start with whole raw eggs to dye. After you are finished with the dyeing process and have removed the wax, coat the eggshell with a layer of oil-based polyurethane. It must be oil-based, because a water based polyurethane will run the dyes. The polyurethane will protect the dyed pattern from moisture and help prevent fading in strong light. It is still not advisable to store eggs in direct sunlight to prevent fading. The polyurethane also adds quite a bit of strength to the fragile egg shell. Once the egg is sealed, it can be blown without the egg innards marring the dyed design of the shell. As a final step, to make sure that any remaining egg inside the shell dries out, bake the finished egg in a low oven (somewhere around 150-175 degrees) for about an hour.
Option 1: start with blown egg shells to dye. While this avoids all the potential problems of working with whole eggs, there is a major downside. Blown eggs float. In order to dye a blown egg, you need to plug the hole(s) with wax to keep it from filling with dye. This means that the blown egg acts like a balloon and needs to be constantly held below the surface of the dye. Whole eggs have the advantage of sinking in the dye and not needing supervision. Another disadvantage of this method is that the untreated dyed egg shell surface can be damaged by moisture and is more likely to fade.
Option 2: (our preferred) start with whole raw eggs to dye. After you are finished with the dyeing process and have removed the wax, coat the eggshell with a layer of oil-based polyurethane. It must be oil-based, because a water based polyurethane will run the dyes. The polyurethane will protect the dyed pattern from moisture and help prevent fading in strong light. It is still not advisable to store eggs in direct sunlight to prevent fading. The polyurethane also adds quite a bit of strength to the fragile egg shell. Once the egg is sealed, it can be blown without the egg innards marring the dyed design of the shell. As a final step, to make sure that any remaining egg inside the shell dries out, bake the finished egg in a low oven (somewhere around 150-175 degrees) for about an hour.
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