Cleaning a Dry Gourd

THE OUTSIDE OF THE GOURD:

The typical cleaning of a Gourd is pretty common knowledge among the Gourd world, however, there is always something that might help to make the job easier. For those who don’t know how to clean a gourd, it is pretty simple. There is a skin layer over the hard shell which requires some scrubbing or effort to remove it. The skin removes best if it has been soaked for a while in warm water, and a little liquid detergent will help. The easiest way is to fill your sink with water, and place the gourd into it, (providing your gourd is small enough to fit in the sink), and dip a towel into the water and lay it over the gourd, to keep the part of the gourd that remains above water, wet. You should let the gourd soak no less than 15 to 30 minutes, but it doesn’t hurt to let them soak for a couple of hours, should you forget they are there, and may even make the tough spots a little easier.

Once the gourd has soaked thoroughly, using the backside of a knife, or a Chore boy or other copper type scrubber, scrub the skin off. Once you have scrubbed a few gourds, you will know how to tell when the skin has been removed and when it hasn’t. After scrubbing the skin off, you need to let the gourd dry before painting or burning on it, however it isn’t necessary to let it dry completely if you are going to cut it. For crafting, you may want to let it dry some, but not thoroughly, as the dampness will reduce the amount of dust created by cutting.