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Learn how to preserve your pumpkins and decorative gourds so they last all season!
Thanks to Pinterest, I’m really enjoying this time of year. I saw this pin about how to make your gourds and pumpkins last longer and look prettier. I was in such a hurry to get fall started that I purchased my pumpkins the day they showed up in the stores, so I’m afraid they won’t last the whole season.
I’m one of those people who keeps up my fall decor until the day after Thanksgiving, when the Christmas decorations go up. So I’m using this little trick to preserve pumpkins and other decorative gourds!
How to Preserve Pumpkins and Decorative Gourds:
Supplies needed:
- Wash tub
- Bleach
- Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
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| Soak them stem side down to keep them from bobbing up out of the water |
2) After letting them sit for 10 minutes or so, dry them off and then buff with Vaseline and a soft cloth to make them shiny.
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| See how pretty they are now? |
Get the look:
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- Bacon Onion Dip - September 13, 2024
Lorrie Ellis Womble says
You can use floor wax to.seal your pumpkins, after washing and drying them, use a floor wax wetted rag to rub it on them and let dry..its cheap,easy and seals well. I use Brite or Future floor wax
Nicole Burkholder says
Interesting! Makes sense:)
Katy Jones says
When our kids were little we bought one of these huge pumpkins. We saw kids coming up and trying to steal it. We did manage to catch them, they couldn’t lift it. We got a huge can of Vaseline, and put it all over that pumpkin……….and no one tried to steal it again, too slippery and also from just being to heavy.
It works !!!
Nicole Burkholder says
Haha! What a great idea!
Joni Maloney says
I had a similar situation with placing pumpkin and gourds on a very expensive oak antique buffet. Having just moved up north from Fl. I was so excited to be able to decorate for fall with these beautiful decorations! After all, every magazine showed exquisite pumkins and gourd arrangements on top of everything. Well I dusted less than two weeks later and one of the gourds got all nasty and mushy. I just and grateful that is was just the one but 15 years later I still have the spot. I have tried many things too many to mention but if your mantel is oak maybe you tried something that I didn’t. I have looked every site imaginable for answers but unsuccessful so far. No harm in asking>>> 🙂 Thank you.
Nicole Burkholder says
Fortunately my mantel is just a built in niche in the wall, so it wiped clean. But my brother is a woodworker and I’m going to ask him what he would suggest!
Nicole Burkholder says
I forgot to get back to you about this! My brother said that the only thing you can do when the wood gets marked like that is to sand it down and then refinish it.
Ginny says
Was hoping I would read that these would last for a couple seasons..those little suckers are expensive!!! great tip though!
Nicole Burkholder says
I kept a few the first year to test that theory. One of them was still fine, but it was a little shriveled looking. The others were all mush. I store everything out in the garage and I’m sure they couldn’t handle the heat. If you are VERY careful and are sure that the flesh has not been punctured at all, you might get lucky, but I wouldn’t count on it. 🙂 I was mad at myself last year because I bought a really cool looking gourd at the grocery store and a week later it was moldy. I should have taken my own advice!
Cindy S says
Be careful of working simultanioously with bleach and ammonia. It can be toxic if they are accidentally mixed together.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/toxicchemicals/a/Mixing-Bleach-And-Ammonia.htm
Nicole Burkholder says
There’s no ammonia called for here, so you’re good!
Glynis Staggs says
I think she made that comment because you mentioned the ammonia with your burner grates.
Nicole Burkholder says
Oh! That makes more sense! Thanks 🙂
Nicole Burkholder says
I thought you meant mixing the ammonia and bleach for the pumpkins, so I was confused. Yes, NEVER mix ammonia and bleach! The ammonia for the stove grates goes into a sealed baggie and I did not work in the same area to be safe. Thanks for the reminder, though!
AmelieAplin says
heyyy!!
its fantastic….
I must admit I’m giggling my head off, picturing the moment when you turned around to photograph that
cute little pumpkin and instead found a plate of mash!
But what a great, helpful post!
I want to try these things now!
You are decorating them with vaseline….wowww…
trust me, I just love your ideas I will surely try this one..
keep up doing good work ..
Many Blessings to you..
Lysh says
Would this method still work if I paint them?
Nicole Burkholder says
The bleach bath would be fine. I painted a few last year but I just skipped buffing them with Vaseline because I was going to paint them anyway.
Vicki Large says
I was going to recommend shelled roasted peanuts for the candy dish but in my household they wouldn’t last the week.
Nicole Burkholder says
Haha! At least dried corn or beans won’t get eaten up 😉
Christina @ Juggling Real Food and Real LIfe says
Wow! 3 great ideas in the post. Our weather turned colder this weekend so I’m in the mood to start decorating for fall. It’s supposed to get warmer by the end of the week so I better get decorating before I change my mind. Does the Vaseline you use make the pumpkins greasy or are you buffing most if not all of it back off?
Nicole Burkholder says
Most of it gets buffed off. They don’t collect dust or anything so I don’t think they are really greasy 🙂
Karen says
What a great tip! It will come in handy quite soon. Thanks for sharing!
Nicole Burkholder says
You’re welcome! I promised myself I wouldn’t ignore my own advice this year, after losing a few really pretty gourds to icky stuff last season! 🙂
Janet Fazio says
Great idea. I’m just getting started on fall decorating and like you, everything needs to last until about the first of December.
Nicole Burkholder says
I always decorate too soon. But I want it to be Fall so badly that I can’t help it. 🙂
Terrae says
Hey, great post can you decorate them after adding the Vaseline? I am doing some crafting with some girlscout daisies and was wondering if I should do this before or would it ruin any paint/decorating to the pumpkin.
Thanks!
Nicole Burkholder says
I wouldn’t do the Vaseline if you are painting them since it “seals” them in a way and would probably be difficult to paint over. But definitely give them the bath so they last longer! 🙂
Tammie Brasfield says
Clorox idea sounds great. I usually just clean them real good and let them dry. Once they dry, I spray (can) high gloss clear lacquer on them. They last forever. I would suggest that you not set them directly on the ground. I use the bottom of a small clay pot. That just gets them off the ground so they don’t sit in any water.
Trish says
How long do the pumpkins last this way, and can you still carve them after or do they remain slippery from the Vaseline?
Nicole Burkholder says
When I treated my pumpkins last season, they lasted all month long. I didn’t get any soft spots. I didn’t carve them, since I only did this for the mini decorative pumpkins, but the shiny coat doesn’t stay slippery, especially after you buff it into the skin. I imagine it would be fine for carving. If you want to carve early, take a spray bottle and mist the open parts of the pumpkin with the solution to kill of the bacteria and keep it from growing mold and getting soft. I just posted a photo today on my Facebook page of a beautiful gourd I bought last week but didn’t treat yet and it’s ALREADY rotten! I was so sad to throw it away. 🙁