Whether you design to paint gourds or use them for craft such as birdhouse or standard candle holders , starting with a clean gourd is all important to producing caliber gourd craft projects . As gourds dry out , a light layer of mold typically grows on their surface , a natural answer of the lengthy drying meter which usually takes several months . Your main goal during cleaning is to remove this mold completely . Although you could apply an mixed bag of tools , all you really ask to educate your dried gourds for craft is a butter knife , some bleach , a few kitchen cleaning supply and a chip of elbow grease .
Step 1
Ensure that the gourd are completely dried . Pick each gourd vine up and shake it to listen for the sound of dried seed rattle inside . If you hear this rattle , your gourds have dried completely and are ready to be cleaned . According to the American Gourd Society , the seeds once in a while stick to the inside of the gourd vine during drying , in which cause you wo n’t be able to find out the seeds move . ( see reference 1 ) If this happens , tap the side of your calabash mildly with your fingertip ; if it sound hollow , it is most potential completely dried .
Step 2
squeeze out a tsp . of limpid dish soap in a pliant dishpan and occupy the bathtub with about 2 to 4 in of tender water . submerse your first calabash in the water altogether to cover the integral aerofoil with water supply . Let the gourd soak in the body of water for about 10 minutes . Bonnie Gibson , author of " Gourds , " suggest that you cover the calabash with a wet dishrag to keep the entire surface wet during the soaking sentence .
Step 3
Rub the away aerofoil of the gourd with a metallic element scouring pad . apply little , brisk gesture and press firmly to remove as much mold and surface dirt as you may . Pay special attention to the base of the stem and the stem turn itself , removing as much mould as you could from it .
Step 4
take out ingrained mould stains from the open of the dry gourd . get the picture the butter knife steadfastly in your handwriting , utilize the back edge ( the dull side ) of the blade to scratch off the outermost layer of moldy skin in fragile strips ; the skin should issue forth off easily since the gourd has been soaking in the weewee . Try not to press too firmly or else you may puncture the inner surface of the calabash .
Step 5
Dispose of the dirty water in the dishpan and fill it with a bleach solution ( one part whitener to 10 parts of water ) . imbue the gourd in the bleach water for 2 to 3 minutes to pour down any remaining mold spores on the gourd ’s pelt .
Step 6
wash the gourd exhaustively and lie it out on a towel to air - dry wholly before you get decorating it . Repeat this operation for each dried gourd vine you plan to decorate .
