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© 2007 Rocky Mountain Gourd Art
All rights reserved.
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Dried gourds need to be cleaned well to remove any mold and flaking outer skin. Always use warm, soapy water and a copper scrub pad to clean the gourd. I use the copper scrub pad instead of the silver metal ones, as the copper is softer and will not scratch the outer surface of the gourd as easily. You want to clean the surface of your gourd, but not leave scratches on the surface. Copper scrubbing pads can be found in your local grocery store. You can soak your gourds in the kitchen sink, a bucket or even a wheel barrow. It all depends on how many gourds you want to soak at one time.
Some gourd growers will also use a weak solution of bleach in the soapy water to kill all the mold and lighten the color of the gourd. If you are sensitive to bleach, then just use the warm, soapy water wash. WEAR A PARTICLE/PROTECTIVE MASK and rubber gloves if you are sensitive to mold or bleach. It is just a good idea to wear a protective mask or respirator any time you are working with your gourds.
Practice SAFE gourding!
Soak your gourds for 15 minutes to a 1/2 hour in the soapy water. Place a wet towel over your gourds as they soak, as they will float to the top of the water and you want them to be immersed for even soaking. Also the wet towel will help to keep any exposed gourd surface wet so it won't dry out.
After the short soak, the cleaning begins.
Using your copper scrubbing pad, scrub off all the mold and flaking skin. If you have any touch skin that won't remove easily, you can use a dull butter knife to scrape it off. The gourd surface will be wet, but smooth when it is clean. Take care in removing all the outer skin, as it will turn white on the gourd surface after drying, and not take paint, stains or dyes very well.
After cleaning your gourds, set them aside for 1 to 2 days for complete drying. They need to be thoroughly dry before crafting them. The gourds will become very light in color and weight when they are completely dry. The outer surface will feel like wood.
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CLEANING INSIDE YOUR GOURDS
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Some gourds will be left whole for painting, decorating, or woodburning. For gourd birdhouses, bowls and other art work the inside of the gourd will need to be cleaned out so that you have a smooth inside surface.
The inside of a gourd consists of a paper-like membrane with the gourd seeds attached. This membrane feels like rough paper or sometimes like thin pieces of styrofoam. The membrane can also have mold spores in it. So when you clean out the insides of the gourd, wear a protective particle mask or respirator along with safety glasses. The dust and small pieces of the membrane can cause breathing problems. Always use safety measures when cleaning your gourds!
I use several different tools to clean the inside of my gourds. A small opening cut in the top of the gourd or a narrow neck gourd restricts the size of the tool you can use. I use a coat hanger with loops bent at both ends. I put heavy tape around the end I will use as the handle. On the scraping end, you can rough up the metal loop with a metal file so that it will grip and clean or attach a piece of a copper or silver metal scrubbing pad to this loop end. Then you can insert this narrow wire and twist it around scrapping the inside of the gourd. Shake out the seeds and membrane material often as you clean. For larger openings made in the gourd, I use the Gourd Master Cleaner Ball. It attaches to a standard drill. This tool shortens the cleaning time, is easy to use, and creates a very smooth surface on the inside of the gourd.
There is also a small gourd scraper tool available on gourd sites on the Internet. You can also use a pumpkin scraping spoon on gourds with a wide cut opening.
Once the inside of the gourd is clean, your gourd is ready for crafting.
For the Gourd Artist who doesn't have the time or would rather not take the time to grow, harvest, dry and clean the gourds themselves, ready to craft gourds can be purchased from several gourd farms that can be found on the Internet.
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