How to Clean Dried Gourds for Crafting

I have been crafting with gourds for about 10 years. I love what a creative medium they are. Many crafters are interested in trying to craft with gourds but may not know where to begin. The first step to crafting with gourds is to clean off the skin, mold, and dirt from the outside of the gourd to create a smooth surface for crafting. Buying these "dirty" gourds is typically much less expensive than buying completely clean gourds. While cleaning gourds before they dry creates the best workable surface, already dried, unclean gourds are perfectly good for crafting. Follow these tips to clean dried gourds and ready them for your own projects.

Soak. The first step in cleaning a dried gourd is to soak it for about 20 minutes in warm water. Some people add bleach to the water, but I find that adding a little dish detergent to the water does the trick, and smells a lot better. Be sure to rotate the gourd every few minutes to ensure that all sides get a good soaking. This soaking will soften the dried gourd skin, making it much easier to remove.

Scrub. The next step to cleaning a dried gourd is to scrub, scrub, scrub. Using a rust proof scouring pad, and a lot of elbow grease, rub the gourd vigorously to start removing old skin and other imperfections. Don't be afraid to put quite a bit of pressure on the gourd. Gourds are quite strong, and one that yields to the pressure of your scouring probably isn't a very good choice for crafting anyway.

Dry. Next, allow the entire gourd to dry. Often, skin particles and other issues on the gourd surface are not visible while the gourd is wet, but they will show up once the gourd is dry. After checking for these imperfections, you are ready to continue.

Drill. If your gourd still has skin attached to it, the final step that you might try for removing the gourd skin is using a drill with a metal brush attachment. Carefully use the brush to remove skin from the gourd surface. This technique often takes care of stubborn gourd skin. Just be careful not to use this method on a small, or thinner walled gourd, or you may end up cracking the gourd surface.

Crafting with gourds is so much fun. Try your hand at gourd crafting, and save some money while you're at it, by following these tips for cleaning dried gourds.