Trading tips for gutting, transferring, and carving the real thing.
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By 500cdn
#12817
I Have Just Seen A Report On Website About Spaying Carved Pumpkins With WD40
It Said Using WD40 Preserves Pumpkins For Weeks and Stops It From Rotting

Does Anyone Know If This Works ?
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By sodajazz
#12819
Yes but it smells funny ... and be careful with naked flames.

Best option is vaseline, coat all the cut edges with it.
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By gregh3196
#12821
I have tried it and it does work but so does vaseline and there is no danger. The pumpkin fresh stuff in the sickening store also works great.
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#12824
Yeah, I think the consensus is that WD40 works to preserve, but it smells, is messy, will make your pumpkin slippery, and the vapors are flammable. My personal recommendation would be to keep things neat and safe with the Vaseline.
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By Tkaraoke
#12828
I want to get a huge jar of it and if they give me a funny look I'll tell them that I'm having a bunch of new friends I met on Craig's List m4m board over for a party! ROFL
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By 500cdn
#12831
Thanks For The Information :D
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By Kittie
#12839
I use a mixture of bleach and water. And then I wrap my pumpkins in saran wrap.
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By S.A.M
#12840
500cdn if you have a garden shed that doesn't let the rain in you should be able to preserve your 'kins for a while. The coolness of the the climate in mid October should be enough to keep the pumpkins looking fresh in the garden shed for a little while with bit of tough paper kitchen towel and water spray.

I decided to test this out last year so that this year it wouldn't be such a rush getting them carved . Here are the results:

Image

Image

I wouldn't leave it a week myself as it's a bit risky but it will buy me a few days extra to get the carving done.

All I did was cover the face and lid of the design with a blue paper kitchen towel which was wet, it has to be one that wont break up so easy when wet, and then just keep an eye on them and give them a spray with water to stop them drying out.

If I remember correctly the lip around the lid of the pumpkin had gone a little slimy and the pointy bits of the design had started to wither a little, but the results aren't too bad for a week with no special preservation liquids.

There is no guarantee that it will work and it all comes down to certain conditions.
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#12841
Sounds like your method works well S.A.M. The pictures speak for themselves.
By CanadianCarver
#12845
Kittie wrote:I use a mixture of bleach and water. And then I wrap my pumpkins in saran wrap.
I tested out this method last year, and it definately works. I plan on doing it again this year to buy me a couple of extra days. Just spray, then wrap and the pumpkins stay very firm.
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By Kittie
#12848
The bleach helps to kill off the bacteria that forms mold that will rot your pumpkins. :)
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#12851
These methods to keep the pumpkin damp are a great idea, but the wet also breeds the mold. So a dash of bleach or Pumpkin Fresh in the mix sounds like a good plan.
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By Meya
#12859
Since I live in Texas, I don't expect my 'kins to last longer than a couple days anyway... but the WD40 did help. They didn't start looking all shriveled right away like normal, and I think I actually got close to a week this time before they had to go.

To deal with the smell, I dusted the inside with various spices (cinnamon and the like) and they overpowered it. :)
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By Chewy
#13824
Last year I got a couple of 20L buckets, filled them with water & about 30mL of bleach & rotated my crop through them for overnight stays - on average, they got the overnight soak every other night. On days/nights that I didnt soak them, I stored them outside (it's relatively cool here but not cold) that time of year with saran wrap on the outside. By the time the big night rolled around, my oldest one was just over a week old & while it didnt look as good as it did the night I carved it, it certainly wasnt showing too much decay.

Not expensive & seemed to work well enough.
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By Crystal
#13853
Its not wet here so Im thinking alot of my problem is drying out. I didnt put anything on my zombie one I did last week and its shriviled up. Gee I think it was only Sunday that I did it. Not even 3 days :shock: Its still Hot here Ill have to try something to make em last longer cuz I want to carve at least 30 this year