I use a dress makers White pencil. I had used my last one up and was searching for something else to use and found a White charcoal pencil in my son’s art supplies, I first did it really dark and a few hours into rooting I tried to wipe it off and it kinda left a oil stain where I had mapped. I tried again super light with it and it came off fine. Another thing I’ve used that worked Good was a White nail tip pencil. I found it at the drug store by the nail polish. Wiped off easily even if I left it on for a few days
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I have not used that.
I want to try that. Does it come off more easily than the Prisma pencil?
No I haven’t but I think I’ll pick one up at CVS this weekend. Does it come off easier then the prisma pencil? Since I was told that the prisma pencil markings can become permanent I’m hesitant to use it now. Thanks Amy! 
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Yes it comes right off with water and won’t set on the vinyl like the prisma pencils do.
Hi Shandeni…I went to the CVS and the Rite Aid pharmacies in town and neither one of them had a nail white pencil. I was told that now it only comes in white eye brow pencils or in gel pens for french manicure nails. I read the back of the white gel pen and it said that if a mistake is made that the gel can be washed off with plain water. It also mentioned that the gel is only set when clear coat is applied over it. I bought it but don’t know if I’ll use it. I figure that I’ll put some lines on Jeebie the hairy leg and tomorrow morning I’ll see if it rinses off with water like they claim. At the second pharmacy they also said they don’t carry the pencil only the gel pens. They did have white chalk so I figured if worse comes to worse I’ll use that for mapping even though it wipes off too easily. With the chalk mapping I’ll probably have to map the head a few times before I finish rooting. Who the heck would have figured that I’d have such a problem finding a nail tip whitening pencil!!! Wow am I ever behind on the times…the last thing that I expected was to be told that they don’t make nail white pencils anymore!!! LOL!! 
I went to JoAnn’s tonight and got a dressmaker’s pencil. Looking forward to trying it out.
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Decided to use white chalk this time around for mapping. I tried the white nail tip gel pen on my practice leg and left it over night. This morning it was permanent even though the instructions said that it comes off with water and that its not set until you apply a top coat. Glad I tried it on “Jeebie the Leg” first!! I think the next time I go to Michaels or JoAnn’s I’ll try the dressmaker pencil. I live in a small town and the nearest craft/fabric stores are about 20 plus miles away.
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Kim…You’re not lazy your talented to be able to root without mapping!!!
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I’m so glad that was on your test leg!! 
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I got mine from rite aid and last time I checked, they still had some, but they Just might be the last or what they had if they are no longer making these. I guess I’m going to go buy the rest if they still have them. I even tried Just plain White colored pencils but they did not work. I used to use Just a regular lead pencil but I was making mistakes and doing the mapping over and over until my head had a grayish tint all over it that I could not get off. If u still don’t have a dress makers pencil by the time I go buy a bunch, I’ll send you one @jackiejo
Shandeni…I’d really appreciate that! I’ll pay for the pencil and shipping. I used white chalk to map Lainey today but it rubs off so easy…too easy actually. It’s all I have right now to safely do the mapping. Earlier I tried a lead pencil but didn’t like the way it worked.
I use NYC white eyeliner pencil. It comes off but you can still see your guide enough to keep going. The only other thing I would suggest is that you cut the hair into shorter pieces. I root with a piece about as long as my pinky and as thick as a couple of coffee straws. Makes it easier to grab less hair and less to trim when done.
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Today day I started rooting Lainey. I rooted for over 2 1/2 hours and it looks like I didn’t get much done. I’m rooting with Delta Dawn Golden Honey. My biggest problem with rooting is that the barb is almost impossible to see and spend more time looking for it then I do actually rooting! I also end up making a lot of holes with no hair in them. I tried marking the needle with nail polish but didn’t have much luck with that either! I wish that BB would mark the barbs somehow to make it easier to know where it is at all times. Does anyone have any tips on how to find the barb when rooting? When I got up from my work table after 2.5 hours of rooting I started laughing as I looked down and had so much mohair on ME that I reminded myself of Chubaka…it was also all over my work table!! Am I doing something wrong or is it normal to have hair all over the place when you root? After its separated from the rest of the mohair is there a way to get it back into the bunch so its not wasted? After tonight and the way my rooting went I honestly am discouraged. I love doing the reborning and want so badly to be a good rooter too but I don’t know if I’ll ever get good enough at it. That darn barb is driving me crazy!! 
Blissfulbabies…I thought of trying white eyeliner but was afraid that the oils in it might stain the vinyl. Your suggestion on cutting the hair into shorter pieces is a great idea! Now if only I could figure out how to find the barb on the needle without going cross eyed!!! That barb is actually my biggest nemesis when rooting!! How many needles do you go though to root a normal size reborn? Does the barb get dull and not grab good after rooting with it a while? It seemed the longer I spent rooting tonight the less hairs were going into the head of the baby and I was ending up with just holes in the vinyl.
Thanks Michelle!
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I use the pink pen and I roll it around until I feel it is grabbing hair as I insert it into the vinyl. I don’t break as many needles since I switched from the mushroom to the pen. As a matter of fact Ive rooted 4 heads now with the same needle. 
What is the pink pen? LOL!!!
Jackie, feel the barb with your fingernail and make sure it is on the underside of the needle closest to the vinyl when you push it in to take a hair. While the barb is on the underside-----look at the TOP side of the needle and notice it’s position, you should have a FLAT side UP. If you keep that position you should catch a hair all the time. You may need to adjust a little as you work your way around the head. You will catch on soon, it is a little daunting In the beginning. You needle should last a long time providing you don’t break it. I did get some needles with a very shallow barb depth once and I did not like them so make sure you get needles with the deeper barb, I think they are sometimes listed in a depth of .02 and .04. I only ran across that once, but just a heads up, watch out for that. Hope this helps. Oh and definitely cut your hair shorter and lay it out on a paper towel or something marked “Cut End” at the top, that’s how I keep mine all going in the right direction, Use only a toothpick size bundle at a time, You’ll be Ok.
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I went to rite aid last night and there are no White nail tip pencils anymore! 
the only thing i found was a French manicure kit that was $10 and came with pink polish, clear polish and a French tip pen. It looks like the pen is actual nail polish and not a pencil. So I searched around and found a White eyeliner pencil, thought it would be great, bought it, tried it on my test head and wiped immediately bc it was really soft and kinda mushed when I touched it to the vinyl, and it just smeared it all over! I scrubbed and wiped and cannot get it off!
Oh, no! I would imagine that eyeliner pencil is designed to stay and not easily rub off. Try some alcohol on a Q-tip.
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