8 Household Ingredients To Keep A Carved Pumpkin Looking Fresh

It's finally fall and that means it's closer to pumpkin-carving time. No matter how old you are, carving scary, funny, and goofy faces into a plump pumpkin never gets old. But when you have so many unique pumpkins to decorate with other than plain old orange, the last thing you want is for them to slowly start rotting from the inside. Whether you have a fairytale pumpkin, a 'Red Warty Thing,' or a 'Black Kat' (Cucurbita pepo) pumpkin, don't let the fear of mold stop you from carving up your favorite gourd. All you need are a handful of household items hiding in plain sight in your pantry to keep your jack-o-lantern looking fresh beyond Halloween.

Once you've carved your pumpkin, you only have three to five days to enjoy it — and even less time in warmer climates. Turns out, moisturizing isn't just great for your skincare routine; You can keep carved pumpkins from rotting just by lathering up your pumpkin with coconut or vegetable oil, leaving you with a much happier pumpkin. Some people have had luck diluting bleach with water and spraying it on the inside, but we've had success without it. 

So if you're like us and prefer to keep your pumpkin fresh and pretty using the natural ingredients you already have in stock, these are the most effective options — along with one that helps if you find yourself in a pumpkin-carving dilemma.

Coconut oil offers a slew of benefits, and one of them involves keeping a carved pumpkin fresher for longer. That's because coconut oil helps lock in moisture with a protective barrier that prevents mold and other icky stuff from forming inside your pumpkin. If you spread it along the outside, coconut oil can give your carved pumpkin a glossier glow, too.

Another natural way to preserve your pumpkin is by using a few spritzes of vinegar. Mix it with water and spray it all over the exposed bits. It not only keeps your pumpkin smelling good, but it slows down decay and helps it stay firm. If your vinegar has been collecting dust inside your pantry, make sure you know whether your vinegar has gone bad, otherwise, you could be adding more bacteria to your pumpkin. 

Vegetable oil is great for making french fries crispy and for helping extend the usefulness of a carved pumpkin even longer. After you've removed the seeds and pulp, brush some vegetable oil on the inside, and any other exposed parts from carving. The oil helps keep your pumpkin from shriveling up. Re-apply the vegetable oil as often as you think it needs, to keep it the fresh.

There are lots of handy ways to use Vaseline around the house, and now you can add pumpkin preserver to the list. Like coconut and vegetable oil, a small layer of petroleum jelly on the exposed parts can help your carved pumpkin last oodles longer. Even though petroleum jelly isn't usually flammable below roughly 390 degrees Fahrenheit, you should consider using a battery-operated candle to give your pumpkin a whimsical glow instead of a real one.

Thanks to their high acidity, lemons lend the perfect natural solution to help your pumpkin stay fresher for longer. Lemon juice keeps pumpkins from discoloring and growing mold. The exposed edges also keep their crisp edges, so you're left with a healthy-looking pumpkin that has a bright, citrusy scent. Either squirt fresh lemons around the inside, or brush lemon juice onto your jack-o-lantern.

If your pumpkin starts looking soft around the edges, a little droopy, or slightly shriveled, give it a dip in ice water for a couple of hours. The ice water helps rehydrate your pumpkin so that afterwards, you can add one of the other natural ingredients, like coconut oil, to extend its life a little longer. This trick usually only works once since pumpkins are highly sensitive to temperature changes.

Baking soda makes cookies and cakes fluffier, it can whiten your teeth, and it's the secret ingredient to getting out stains in clothes, along with a ton of other uses. It can also help slow down your pumpkin's decaying process and keep mold at bay. Sprinkle a layer of baking soda inside your pumpkin to help absorb moisture and odors. 

Though it's not a natural remedy, if you've got a few cans of clear enamel spray from your latest DIY and don't know what to do with them, try spraying the topcoat on your pumpkin's exposed insides. This trick also works wonders on non-carved pumpkins too, helping them last from Halloween all the way to Thanksgiving — with, or without, a painted face. Just don't use real candles though because this spray is flammable. Thanks to these tips, this season, we can all enjoy our jack-o-lanterns as long as possible.