How to Clean a Gourd

Video Transcript

"On behalf of Expert Village my name if Karen LoCasale and I'm here to tell you about crafting with gourds. How to clean your gourds. OK, the first thing you need to do is they need to get wet, the easiest way to do that is to put them in a sink, I use a utility sink, and they will float, so you also can use a paper towel and get that wet on them as well to lay over the top of them. Hot water is best and a little bit of soap helps as well because they are very moldy and so the soap helps to break that down. Another option is to put them in a large black garbage bag with a little bit of water or some damp towels on them and you would seal the bag and leave it out in the sun and let the heat generate the moisture and the heat as well will break down the mold and the waxy skin that you will get on them. Once they've soaked for a while, and it can be anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour to a couple of days, it really doesn't hurt them to soak any length of time at all. The longer they soak the easier it is to get the waxy residue off of them. And then you can just use a simple pot scrubber, either the copper kind or the stainless steel that you get at the grocery store, you know plain ninety-nine cent scrubbers, and the mold generally comes off very easily, a lot of times you have to scrub a little harder for the waxy residue to come off. Sometimes you can also take a little knife and scrape it if you're having some spots that are really hard. Something also to think about is the health concerns with the mold. If you're allergic at all to mold or that sort of thing you might want to consider wearing a protective mask to keep any spores and things from getting into your nose and mouth and that sort of thing."