How to Make a Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray
Looking for a way to preserve your Halloween pumpkin naturally? I’ve got a super-simple DIY Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray recipe you can make at home to make those carved pumpkins longer.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my affiliate disclosure.
Halloween is coming and it’s time to get ready for pumpkin-carving season. Depending on where you live, that could mean waiting until the day before Halloween to carve those pumpkins due to decay, mold and bugs. But I’ve got some simple ways you can keep those carved pumpkins around longer for Halloween.
Why Carved Pumpkins Spoil Quickly
I came up with this recipe as I was looking up ways to preserve our newly carved organic Halloween pumpkins. All I could find to were recipes with bleach, acrylic spray, petroleum products and other toxic additives that I wanted to avoid. Yuck! Who wants toxic chemicals like bleach around?
But finding a natural solution wasn’t easy. Why? The three biggest issues with carved pumpkins are humidity, warm climate, and bugs. If you live in a humid climate, your carved pumpkin will likely develop mold and rot quickly. Bugs will likely be an issue if you live in a warm or humid climate.
How To Make a Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray
There’s a really simple way to make your carved pumpkins last longer with this DIY Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray. Just add peppermint essential oil to a spray bottle. Add water and just a bit of liquid castile soap.
The peppermint essential oil helps to keep the bugs away (spiders, ants, and other pests don’t like the scent of peppermint). It also helps to keep the pumpkin from wilting quickly.
How to Use This DIY Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray
After you carve your pumpkin, remove the seeds, pulp and anything you don’t need inside the pumpkin. Shake the DIY Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray well and then spray the carved pumpkin thoroughly. Be sure to spray inside, outside, carved areas, etc.
Let your pumpkin dry in a cool, shaded area, preferably inside your home or even inside the refrigerator. The cool air helps the carved pumpkin last longer.
When you’re ready to display your pumpkin, leave it out and enjoy. Consider spraying again each day to help it to last longer.
How To Make Carved Pumpkins Last Longer
In addition to using this DIY Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray, here are some other ways to make your carved pumpkins last longer:
- Keep them out of direct sunlight. The heat will make your carved pumpkin spoil faster.
- Put them in the refrigerator. The cold air keeps them lasting longer. You could even enjoy the pumpkins for a few hours during the day and then put them in the fridge at night to preserve them. This could add days to your carved pumpkin and help to prevent rot and mold.
- Keep hem indoors rather than outdoors, especially if you live in a warmer or more humid climate. I find that our carved pumpkins can last a couple days longer just by keeping them inside our home because it’s cooler and drier.
More Recipes You Might Like
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Pumpkin Einkorn Pancakes Recipe
- 10 Fall-Inspired Diffuser Scents (Ditch Those Pumpkin Spice Candles)
Want More DIY Recipes?
Check out my book Natural Beauty Made Simple. It comes with 45 homemade skincare recipes with a set of printable labels and gift tags. You can download it instantly to your phone, computer or e-reader, so it’s portable and can go with you anywhere!
With this book, you’ll learn how to:
- Make your own organic beauty and skin care products for less than $25 a month!
- Learn simple techniques to make your own skincare – without the fuss of complicated recipes or hard-to-find ingredients
- Get tried-and-true recipes that work to nourish the skin and make it look more radiant than ever before
- Create beautiful gifts for friends and family with the printable labels and gift tags I’ve included with this book
DIY Natural Pumpkin Preserve Spray
Ingredients
- 8 oz spray bottle
- 1 capful liquid castile soap (about 1/2 tsp)
- 6 drops peppermint essential oil
Instructions
- Add liquid castile soap, peppermint and tea tree essential oils to an 8 oz spray bottle. Fill with water.
- Spray carved pumpkin thoroughly. Be sure to spray inside, outside, carved areas, etc.
- Let pumpkin dry and voila! You’ve got a natural pumpkin preserve spray.
What a great idea, I’ll definitely use this this year!