I don't pan lube. Though if you have a tapered bullet pan lubing is necessary. Unless you have a Pope style pump with a tapered die. I'll use a slightly oversized sizer die and wipe the base on a rag. A sizer die the same diameter as dropped or .001 bigger works great. I know it's not what you asked except for wiping on a rag. A little rubbing alcohol on a shop rag leaves the base clean.

plastic window screen with  a piece of thin cloth under it on your table...works great !  Just cuts off the lube but doesnt scratch bullet.......I didnt patent it so your all welcome to it.......

I dip lube instead of pan lubing, and it has the same problem with lube on the base.

I put a large sheet of freezer paper on the workbench as I lube, and wipe the base clean on the paper.  Then, set the bullets aside to cool slightly before inserting into the cases.  Inserting in the cases scrapes off excess lube, and I wipe the residue off with my finger, returning it to the can I dip out of by scraping it off on the edge.  When I get a large area covered with the base smears, I scrape it off with a putty knife and return it to the melt can.

After I'm done inserting all the bullets, I wipe the entire load with a rag.

I use a very high oil content lube, and if I leave the bullets to cool the lube fully, the lube doesn't adhere and flakes off.  Thus, inserting the bullets while the lube is still warm.  I know that won't work for breech seating, but I suspect you would use more sticky lube.

I dip lube.  I use a wax heater (ask your teenage daughter our granddaughter) with digital heater control.  I set it to ~175 F to melt the lube, set each bullet on parchment paper after dipping.  Depending on temperature, I'll dip 10-30 as  a time, using a circular motion as I dip to make sure the top groove is filled well.  I use a case with a plunger through a drilled-out primer hole to remove excess lube before it gets too hard (I use SPG or DGL), recovering the excess as ssdave described.  I wipe the bases clean by rubbing them over a blue shop towel just before inserting them into the case.

cadyk

Hey guys, thank you for all the feedback. I was just starting to lube bullets for the upcoming ISSA Schuetzenfest at the NRA Whittington Center in New Mexico and had several hundred bullets that I needed to lube.
As I breech seat, dip lubing just doesn't work plus my bullets are either 2-diameter or tapered (depending on the rifle) so removing lube by pushing through a sizing die isn't a solution either.
Wiping the bullet bases off individually seems to be the most expeditious option and that's what I've always done. It's tedious but I find that if, after pouring lube, I push one row of bullets a short way out of the lube block, wipe the bases, remove that row from the block and proceed row by row. It's not fast but quicker than picking up each bullet to wipe the base clean. Lubing bullets is just a messy business 
Hope you all had a great independence day celebration and hopefully, I will see a few of you at the Schuetzenfest.

Joe
I like it 
How hard is it to run Smiley Schuetzen Lube through that pump?
(That pump reminds me of high School days working in a gas station on weekends)