I Tried the 6 Best Hacks for Keeping Carved Pumpkins From Rotting
Now that October has started, it’s officially Halloween season! If you’re a spooky season lover, you might be itching to fill your home with little DIY Halloween decorations, or maybe you’re more the giant yard skeleton type. But there’s one piece of classic decor many Halloween fans have in common: carved pumpkins.
From eerie to adorable, there are nearly endless options for carving your Halloween pumpkin (not to mention plenty of ideas for no-carve pumpkins, too). But regardless of which design suits your style, you’ll probably want your carved work of art to last as long as possible.
The internet is full of suggestions for how to get your freshly carved pumpkin to maximize its jack-o’-lifespan. But not all hacks are created equal! I tested out five of the most popular suggestions for preserving carved pumpkins, plus a bonus combo method, to find out which ones really worked. Read on to find the winning hack!
The Methods for Preserving Carved Pumpkins I Tested
There are a lot of tips and tricks out there — some more doable than others — so I had to narrow it down. The ones I chose are among the most common methods suggested, and were the most practical. (One suggestion I read was to store your pumpkin overnight in the fridge, which probably works great … but who has the room?)
Here are the methods I tried, and what I did for each.
Carved au Naturel
This was my control pumpkin, so it got the least amount of attention. I carved it just like I normally would.
Washed with a Bleach Solution Before Carving
Before even beginning my carving process, I washed this pumpkin in my kitchen sink with a bleach solution (about 1 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water). Wearing gloves was crucial for this part.
The idea behind this hack is that the bleach solution will kill any bacteria or mold spores on the outside of the pumpkin that might ordinarily make their way to the carved flesh and cause premature rotting.
Washed with Dish Soap Before Carving
Like the bleach-scrubbed pumpkin, I washed this one in my kitchen sink before carving but used just dish soap and water.
As with the bleach method, the thinking here is that you’re removing anything from the exterior of the pumpkin that could cause it to rot early.
Exposed Flesh Rubbed with Petroleum Jelly After Carving
I didn’t do anything to this pumpkin before I carved it, but after it had transformed from an ordinary pumpkin into a smiley jack-o’-lantern, I rubbed all the exposed flesh in the inside of the pumpkin and in its newly carved facial features with petroleum jelly.
This suggestion is based on the idea that petroleum jelly will help keep moisture from leaving the pumpkin once it’s cut open and will prevent any mold spores from taking hold.
Caution: Petroleum jelly is flammable over 400°F, so use this hack with a battery-powered flameless candle rather than an open flame.
Exposed Flesh Rubbed with Vegetable Oil After Carving
As with the petroleum jelly pumpkin, I didn’t touch this pumpkin until after it was carved. Once I finished that, though, I used vegetable oil to coat all the exposed pumpkin flesh.
This is another method that people suggest for trapping moisture inside the pumpkin’s flesh and preventing mold spores from taking hold.
Caution: Like petroleum jelly, vegetable oil is flammable. Pair this method with a battery-operated flameless candle instead of an open flame.
Washed with Bleach Solution After Carving
I waited to use the bleach solution on this pumpkin until after I’d carved it, just to see if the pumpkin bath timing was relevant.
Washed with Bleach Solution Before Carving, and Exposed Flesh Rubbed with Petroleum Jelly After
This final treatment was a combo of two noted above: washing with a bleach solution before carving, then coating the exposed flesh with petroleum jelly after carving. I threw this one in to see if, as with candy, more is better.
Caution: Petroleum jelly is flammable over 400°F, so use this hack with a battery-powered flameless candle rather than an open flame.
Results After 48 Hours
I put all of my carved pumpkins outside so they’d be in the same conditions, then checked on them after 24 hours. There wasn’t any noticeable decay on any of them, so I came back the next day.
After 48 hours, I really started to see some differences. Most of the pumpkins began to show signs of moisture loss, with curling edges and drying flesh.
The pumpkins doing the best: the petroleum jelly and the bleach/petroleum jelly combo pumpkins, which were both the brightest and most well hydrated.
The pumpkin doing the worst: the pumpkin washed with bleach after carving, which showed more dramatic shriveling of the carved edges and exposed flesh.
Results after 72 Hours
Things mostly followed the same pattern I saw after 48 hours.
The pumpkins doing the best: the petroleum jelly and the bleach/petroleum jelly combo pumpkins.
The pumpkin doing the worst: the pumpkin bleached after carving, which was starting to collapse.
Results After 1 Week
No surprises here. After one week outside, the pumpkins were still on their same trajectory as before.
The pumpkins doing the best: the petroleum jelly and the bleach/petroleum jelly combo pumpkins.
The pumpkin doing the worst: the pumpkin bleached after carving, which was starting to collapse.
Results After 10 Days
After a whopping 10 days outside on my front stoop, the pumpkins had vastly different journeys.
The pumpkins doing the best: the petroleum jelly and the bleach/petroleum jelly combo pumpkins.
The pumpkin doing the worst: the pumpkin bleached after carving, which was a complete rotting mess. It fared even worse than the control pumpkin! It’s clear that timing does matter here, since a bleach solution applied to pumpkins before carving is pretty effective for minimizing contamination. After carving, though, it does too much damage to the flesh of the pumpkin to be helpful.
The Winning Method
There was no doubt that the pumpkins that had petroleum jelly applied to their exposed flesh did the best overall. That’s because the petroleum jelly effectively locked in moisture and kept the pumpkins plump and structured.
Good news for anyone who wants to do less work: The pre-bleach/petroleum jelly method didn’t seem to work any better than petroleum jelly alone, so you can skip the washing and go straight to carving.
Tips for Using Petroleum Jelly on Pumpkins
While petroleum jelly was far and away the winning method here, it’s not without its challenges. Here are my takeaways.
Move anything you love out of the way.
Petroleum jelly is messy. After I was done working, I had grease stains on my stairs, my table, and my dish towels. I recommend thorough prep and cleanup to avoid the same fate. Gloves are a good idea, too, to help keep you from spreading the petroleum jelly outside of your workspace.
Keep in mind that this affects compostability.
A lot of people throw their pumpkins straight in the trash once they’ve expired, but if you’re a composter, be warned. Because it’s a byproduct of the oil refining process, petroleum jelly is not biodegradable and shouldn’t be added to your compost pile. Toss your used pumpkin in the trash or use a different method, like prewashing to help give your carved pumpkin a little boost.
Remember: An Uncarved Pumpkin Lasts Longest
Uncarved pumpkins can easily last 10 to 12 weeks since their hard skin protects them from dehydration and rot. The best way to ensure your carved pumpkin looks its best come Halloween is to save any slicing for the day before or the day of. Until then, you can leave them outside as long-lasting and festive fall decor.
Further Reading
Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Article’s DTC Furniture
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We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here’s What They Said
