[Kittie]

What is the best way to put it on? Any easy ideas for perserving a pumpkin for a few days. We have 19 done right now. Any ideas how to keep them good? I heard WD-40 works. . or a spray on sealer?

[Dadja]

Vaseline is a mess! What works the best for me is, when you've finished a pumpkin soak it for 2 or 3 hours in a bucket with water and a good pour of bleach!. Then just put the same mixture in a can and spray the pumpkins on the inside every day. they keep very good then!

[Kittie]

hmmm might have to try that one

i have 38 pumpkins. . .
hehehehe

[beezy]

how much yall be payin for these pumpkins?

[Kittie]

Between $1 - $3 And I think I only bought 5 $3 ones.


We decided to use a comination of bleach and water, then wrap them in saran wrap. Hope it works!

[buddha]

Instead of Vaseline, one thing we tried last year was spraying the exposed pumpkin surfaces with a think coating of PAM. It seems to accomplish the same thing without the mess. I think any oil-based spray product will keep the oxidation at bay long enough.

[Kittie]

The bleach and water and then wrapped in saran wrap worked better then anything I have ever tired.

[Tkaraoke]

It's weird!!

I carved Frankie last Wednesday (Oct 25th) and made it to Halloween night. All I did was dunk him in water (I believe twice in that time span) and he only wilted slightly. Didn't put anything special in the water and he just seemed to refused to die.

[Kittie]

Was it nice and cool where you're at?
We had nice cool weather, so we kept our carved ones in the basement and I still have 3 carved ones out on the porch and they haven't really wilted yet. . but it's been in the 30's and 40's here.

[Tkaraoke]

It has been fairly cool here and Halloween night it dropped down to the low 40's right about trick-or-treat time. I pretty much froze my hinder off watching my pumpkin display for 8 ToTers. Ack!

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Vaseline - What is the best way to put it on?

Vaseline is usually all I do to preserve my pumpkins (but keep in mind I only do about a half dozen and usually wait until October 29th or 30th). I rub it on with my finger (in openings where my finger will fit) and use a cotton swab for the smaller holes.

I'm not trying to fight mold -- my main goal is to keep the lines looking clean and fresh. It's the shriveling that I don't want to see, since it can degrade the design. This is mainly an issue on the thin and pointy areas of the design, so that's where I focus my Vaseline.

I never found it to be too messy. I'm careful about how I apply it, and if any gets on the skin of the pumpkin face, I just wipe it off with a paper towel. The paper towel also wipes off my finger.

a thick coating of PAM. It seems to accomplish the same thing without the mess.

How do you direct where the spray will go? It seems like it would get all over the pumpkin, even on areas you don't want it to. That sounds messy to me.

Thanks to this forum, I've seen so many varied suggestions for transferring, gutting, carving and preserving. Everyone has their own preferred technique, while others swear by something entirely different. That's the beauty of sharing our tips here. With so many ideas, we'll all find the method that works best for us.

[jskeens]

when i use the vaseline method i usually use a q-tip for the small fine pieces.

[shutterbug]

I found that if I use Pam or any other spray like that ,the meat of the pumpkin at the cuts starts to go clear,like its soaking it in.Doesn't look
right.The Vaseline & plastic wrap seems to work best for us.
My question is what type of glue do you use to attach the pattern,so you can still remove whats left after?That will cut out 1 whole step of using the nail or pointy thing to outline the pattern.With the numbers we're doing it could be nice...judd

[matspud]

I have used both Pritt stick and Merlin Medium ( I think it is similar to Elmers) both successfully. It does take a bit of soaking to remove it all but it works. I even used it with the kids last year.

[CorpseBride]

I use alot of the techniques that are on here...the water and bleach, and the vaseline. But another method I found that works is using artists' sealer (found at Micheals). I usually buy the Matte finish and it works great for sealing moisture out. I use a little straw on the nozzle (like wd-40 cans) to focus where the spray goes. The cans go for about 10 - 20 dollars but it works very well!

Also don't be afraid to layer it on thick...I find the more you use the better it works.