You don’t want the scariest thing among your Halloween decorations to be a moldy pumpkin, do you?
After all, a pumpkin is just a vegetable. After being exposed to the elements for several days, the jack-o-lantern’s grin will begin to sag. Your pumpkin deserves to be preserved.
Here are 4 ways you can keep it healthy with items you may already have inside your home.
1. Ah, Forget About It
If you’ve got some Wet & Forget Outdoor stashed in your household cleaning supplies, you may be surprised to learn that it can do double duty for pumpkin preservation.
Typically used for keeping mold and mildew at bay, this product is great at keeping your pumpkin in top shape leading up to the holiday.
Dilute Wet & Forget with water and soak your pumpkin in a bucket. You can also use Wet & Forget’s ready-to-use sprayer and hit the inside of the pumpkin and cut sections.
Apply Wet & Forget just once per week for an easy way to keep your pumpkin mold and mildew free for at least two weeks.
2. Hydrate
Keeping moisture in will keep your pumpkin plump leading to Halloween. Consider applying lubricant to the cuts you make. WD-40 works great for this, but you can also use vegetable oil or even petroleum jelly.
Something else you might have not thought of is hairspray — that or any other sealant can keep your pumpkin from getting dehydrated.
3. Avoid Direct Sunlight
If placed outside without cover, your pumpkin is more likely to rot quicker.
Try to keep the pumpkin as cool as possible.
4. Pumpkin Guts
This may seem like an obvious step to carving any pumpkin, but make sure you remove all the pulp. When that stuff piles up, it attracts bacteria and pests. Scour the pumpkin walls and base for all the loose pulp.
If you still haven’t made the trip to your local pumpkin patch click here to see how you can turn your night of carving into a much bigger family event.
The seasoned remodeling contractor and media personality served as the home improvement expert for CBS’s “The Early Show” and The Weather Channel for over a decade and has made more than 180 national television appearances on “Fox & Friends,” “Inside Edition,” “Morning Express with Robin Meade,” Fox Business Channel, Rachael Ray and more.
He travels the country making appearances as a brand ambassador and spokesperson, and each year contributes expertise to hundreds of popular magazines and online media outlets.
The darned squirrels always eat and destroy my pumpkins! How do you put a stop to that?