Originally Posted by jljack

At Road to California I went to the Pounce vendor with the same issues as most of you have...not enough chalk, unclear lines, etc. She showed me that you not only have to pound the heck out of the thing when it's new to get the chalk down in it, but the real secret is to rough up the surface of the pad with your fingernails, and then to shake it until the chalk "puffs" out when you hold it upside down and touch the surface with your finger. Did I make it clear? I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to when I next use an all over pattern to quilt. I also use the purple disappearing markers, and love those. Some disappear so fast I have to only mark a little ahead. Also got the big fat pencils and a special sharpener, and those work great, too.