I found a rigid Beadsmith needle in one of my cigar boxes of beading stuff. (One day I have to organize them -- why? I'll just mess it up again!
) I know it's thin enough to go all the way through one of the pearls, so it should be able to reach the obstructions. I'm heating the needle to melt the obstruction, but it is slow SLOW going. When the obstruction is hot and plyable, there's nothing to pull it out with. So I am changing the shape of the obstruction, letting it cool, then poking around. Reaming this out would be so much faster. Taking a deep breath and canning the pearls would be so much more logical!