It happens every year: you spend a great deal of time poring over a design for your jack o' lantern, then carving it up, then displaying it with a lit candle. You smile over your creation and in the amount of time it takes for you to turn around to grab a handful of candy corn--- your pumpkin goes from looking like a young scary grinning ghoul, to looking like your grampa with his teeth out after a hard night of drinking.How do you preserve your precious carved turnip so that you can enjoy it for more than one day?
Well your friendly neighborhood HalloweenAddict.com has compiled some tips across the wide wide world o' webs from the pumpkin EXPERTS...
1) SPRAY WITH WD-40
According to ExtremePumpkins.com:
"I spray the crap out of the pumpkin with WD-40... People keep writing me and asking if this really works and/or if it is dangerous. The answer is yes it does really work. You spray the entire pumpkin inside and out and it will prevent rotting for a while. Keep in mind that a pumpkin will usually start to rot in about 3 days of cool (70 degree) weather and less in hot weather so don't carve those pumpkins too early."
2) WET, WRAP, REFRIGERATE
Pumpkingutter.com has a few different approaches.
"There are many products made for the purpose of retarding the growth of mold and fungus and all kinds of ways to prevent them from drying out. Virtually all these ways extend the pumpkin life a mere extra day or two and most involve special treatments during non-display hours. Usually, the appearance still degrades and it isn't worth the hassle. Here are a few methods you're welcome to try:
- Lemon juice.
- Paint It With Brush or Spray-on Paint or Varnish.
- Spray on Lysol.
- Spray on Listerine. - Smells good anyway.
- Put a wet towel on it overnight. - An acceptable measure.
- Dampen it and bag it. - Good.
- Wet towel plus bagging it. - Better.
- Wet it, Bag it,plus refrigerate it. - Best...if you can make room in the 'frig.
- Double bag it and ice it down in a huge tub during non-display hours.
- Make an expensive mold of your carving and cast it in plaster or some other material.
- Take some good photos. - My personal favorite
- Freeze Drying. - Ouch, my bank acount.
- Shrink Wrap. - Thanks to Dan in Austin, TX.
- Athlete's foot spray - (Anti-Fungal)
3) PUNKIN DUNKIN
I've never tried this stuff, but I've seen it listed on Yankee Halloween for years. If they keep sellin' it it must do SOMETHING.
Buy it HERE.
4) SPRAY IT WITH WATER AND BLEACH
The Pumpkin Masters offer some tips like above but add this one into the mix...
"Soak or spray the pumpkin with water mixed with a little bit of bleach. This will help ward off mold and kill insects for a longer preservation."
5) PUMPKIN DEATHMATCH: THE SCIENCE OF IT ALL...
Lastly I discovered MyScienceProject.com and they have tested some of preservation methods scientifically complete with a pumpkin marked "Control"... little white pieces of tape... a metal table. SCIENCE!
You'd be surprised at what they found. Pumpkins ROT. SURPRISE!
"Finally, you may want to do nothing. Just keep your carved pumpkin in a dry and temperature stable location. Exposure to the elements, such as rain and freezing temperatures, will damage your pumpkin and encourage decay. Our experiment showed that doing nothing was surprisingly effective and preserved the pumpkin for about as long as the commercial spray, although it was slightly moldier and drier. If you’re not too concerned about your pumpkin shriveling a bit, this may be your best option."
Check out their report HERE or click the pic.
So there you have it.
Go forth and carve knowing that, much like Halloween, the quality time with your jack o' lantern is limited!
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