I'm in the process of making a winter theme dummy cake and I am making a royal icing snowflake which means the lines are quite thin.

I have tried twice and they broke as I was trying to "unstick" them from the wax paper.

I looked up an article here and it said I should spray the wax paper with some cooking spray and wipe away the excess but I thought oil based ingredients made RI break down and no harden?

Can I do this or is there another way to get delicate RI pieces off of wax paper without breakage?

Yes, you NEED to spray the wax paper with some PAM and wipe it off. They'll be fine.

To release them, you can gently run a very thin palette knife under each one, or gently slide a piece of paper under a group of them.

Rae

I use crisco on my wax paper, just use a thin layer.

Ok, please explain this to me then. Like the OP, I have read than any type of fat used in the bowl or beater when you make RI will prevent it from turning out correctly, and that it will stay runny. So, why is it ok to pipe it on top of crisco'd wax paper? I'm confused.....

Parchment works better for me. If they aren't coming off with a palette knife, they aren't dry enough yet.

I use wax paper or partchment paper, whatever I have. I don't use a lot of crisco just a little bit on paper towel and smooth over my paper.
Tinygoose is right though, if they arn't coming off they're not dry enough.

I guess it's okay to use becasue the amount of oil the RI comes in contact with is so small it wont affect it...?? I'm not sure exactly but it works

I can never get royal icing off of waxpaper. So I use parchment paper only. Slides right off when it's completely dry. Well, sometimes they need a little help from a spatula...

Try removing the piece as though it is color flow - lay the paper on the edge of your counter and pull the paper over the edge which will then peel the paper from the piece, do not pull on the piece. The piece should just fall in your hand. You may have to pull the paper in section to loosen it - the top, then turn it around and pull from a side and then the bottom and the other side.

I never spray but always use parchment paper, and never had an issue.. yet! lol
Jodi

Most parchment has a silicone finish, ergo the easy removal.

Fat stops the meringue from forming properly when RI is being made. Once the RI is made and is piped on a thin film of grease, the meringue is formed and it's no longer an issue.

If you allow RI to sit on a greasy surface (buttercream) for a long period of time, the grease seeps in and breaks the RI down from within, first showing as greasy spots and then softening it all together.

Rae

I have a very thin flexible artist's pallet knife that is wonderful for this.