Beads Gone Bad

As a glass bead maker, you come to realize that every once in a while you will have a bead that you cannot get off the mandrel. Lately, it seems, that I have many beads gone bad. I have tried to do everything from soaking the beads in plain water to soaking them in water and WD-40. They are now in the last stages of soaking before they become plant pokes. They are soaking in water with a fabric softener sheet. After that, my choices are limited: plant pokes or the release of frustration by cracking the beads with a hammer. I will probably choose plant pokes. Since the photo was taken, one bead has broken because I dropped it on the cement floor in the basement. It came off the mandrel in about 8 different pieces. Yes, I counted them. One bead cracked in half when I plunged it into very warm water. Another one cracked when it started to come off the mandrel. The survivors are just beads gone bad. We'll see what happens tomorrow.