Polish and Preserve Your Decorative Pumpkins

I call it a healthy sign of adulthood when you have a favorite designer brand of pumpkin. My teenagers would call it "basic". We don't agree on a lot of things. I'm lucky enough to live close to a local farm that sells some amazing decorative pumpkins at a great price. Over the years I've learned a trick or two on how to polish and preserve them so I can get the most out of my pumpkins for the whole season. And by whole season, I mean from September until late November. I love how I'm able to take the muted colors of the various gourds and make them shine all season long. And now I'm sharing my secrets on how to polish and preserve your decorative pumpkins all season long.

Polish and Preserve Your Decorative Pumpkins

There are so many great varieties of pumpkins out there and you are no longer stuck having to settle for the jack-o-lantern varieties. We've got options my friends. What a time we live in. 
Some of my favorite decorative pumpkins are the Cinderella, the Ghost and the Jarrahdale, which are those gorgeous blue ones. 

In case you missed it, here are 5 ways to save money on pumpkins. 

Sure you can leave your pumpkins as is, but they look so much nicer and I tend to think they last just a little bit longer if you take just a few minutes to polish and preserve them.
Let's get started!

How to Preserve Your Decorative Pumpkins
Start out by picking a pumpkin that doesn't have any soft spots or holes. Those are recipes for disaster and will just rot quickly. 
Most of the time, the pumpkins have a little dirt or mud on them. You can start by giving them a good spray with the hose and letting them dry.
Next, I heat up my HomeRight Steam Machine Steamer. I know that my HomeRight Steam Machine cleans and sanitizes pretty much every.single.thing in my home, so why wouldn't I use it to help clean and sanitize my pumpkins?
The steam will help clean off any leftover dirt but it will also clean any mold that might be creeping its way on to your pumpkins just waiting to break it down and make it rot before fall is even close to over!

I used the steam and a clean rag to wipe down the surfaces of my decorative pumpkins. You can also use the included utility brush to get a really good clean in all the cracks.

How to Polish Your Decorative Pumpkins

I actually learned this little trick from the farmer I buy my pumpkins from. A few years ago, he told me to go home and use a paper towel and some olive oil to shine up my pumpkins. I've been doing it ever since!
Look at what a difference a little olive oil makes!

The pumpkins on the left haven't been cleaned or polished and the pumpkins on the right have been. 

I just love the way they shine! I also really think it brings out the natural colors of the pumpkin and helps to cover up any imperfections. 

If you are finding that your pumpkins weren't lasting all season long and they needed a little shine, give this a try. It will take you about five minutes, but it will make a world of difference. 
You can enjoy your pumpkins indoors or out. The rain will roll right off the olive oils surface. And not to worry, if you like to cut into your pumpkins to eat them later in the season, nothing that you did to them has made them hazardous to eat. 
After you do this, you'll be wondering why you hadn't been doing this before! Welcome to adulthood my friends. Welcome.

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