14 Years Manufacturer 26″ Industrial rubber glove-Granule finish in Borussia Dortmund

FAQ Content

Hardshell gourds have been used as food and beverage containers, and art pieces for centuries. They are often referred to as “nature’s pottery” due to their beautiful variety of shapes and hardy uses. The creative crafting possibilities of hardshell gourds are endless; from bowls and cups (mate gourds, used for drinking yerba mate), to purses, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, lampshades, jewelry boxes, bird houses, tribal penis shields, and even a wide variety of musical instruments. The list goes on forever, only limited by your imagination.

But I’m not here right now to tell you what to do with them (maybe later); I’m here to tell you how to clean them inside and out, using safety precautions.

The need to clean depends largely on what you plan to do with the gourd. You may decide to only work on the outside without a need to open the gourd, in which case you get to avoid the extra work involved. If you plan to make a bowl, for example, then clearly you’ll be working on both inside and outside, as well as cutting and/or carving.

The outsides of dried gourds are fairly simple to clean, if sometimes labor intensive. The extent to which you clean them depends upon how you want to use them, and what you might want to add to the surface (paints, dyes, etc.). If you want a naturey-looking gourd with its natural waxy coating you don’t have to do much beyond washing off dirt and dark mold with a hot water and bleach solution (maybe 10 parts water to 1 part bleach), which retards future mold growth. However, if you want to dye a gourd, leaving the waxy coating on it might prevent dye from soaking into the surface the way you want it to, which means you’ll have to scrub harder to remove nature’s irritating addition to your innocent craft project.

The insides of gourds are a different story, and a potentially dangerous one. You need to be careful not to inhale the contents. Not all hardshell gourds are terrible inside, but they are all dusty, and you can’t guess which ones will merely make you sneeze and which ones might contain mold/fungus, bacteria, and other pathogens that could cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock. I’ve personally been flattened with a gourd dust-related illness that gourd crafters refer to as “gourd flu”, which was basically illness that mimicked semi-severe flu symptoms (fever, aching joints, muscle soreness, mucus, fatigue) for about two to three days. If there’s a medical term for this, I don’t know what it is, but in hindsight… I probably should have seen a doctor. And you should, too, if it ever happens to you.

So… to prepare, make sure you use a dust mask. They’re easily found at hardware stores all over. Choose a good one designed for working with wood/sawdust; if possible, look into one that also protects against molds/fungus. Second, use protective goggles. Remember, these precautions aren’t just for gourds; any time you do craftwork involving dust, solvents, tools and so on.

What can you expect to find when you open a gourd (via Xacto knives/saws, mini electric jigsaws, or Dremels… be careful not to cut yourself)? Dust, seeds, a styrofoam-like substance, and hardened pulp, maybe even a few tiny beetles. You probably don’t want to keep that junk in there, right? So you have to clean it out, and often this is easy, but occasionally this can get ugly.

You should prepare yourself for cleaning the outside with:
~ A sink or tub, the size depending on the size(s) of gourds you’re cleaning.
~ Rags
~ Copper scrubbing pads. 100% copper means they won’t rust should you want to use them again later.
~ Bleach
~ Old towel(s)
~ Something to scrape with, perhaps a knife edge
~ Rubber dish gloves

You should prepare yourself for cleaning the inside with:
~ Gardening gloves, or thicker gloves
~ A melon baller
~ A taxidermy scraper
~ A sanding sponge
~ A shop vac
~ Dust masks, the best ones being for the finest particulate matter
~ Eye protection, especially if you plan on using power tools
~ Electric drill with wire brush bit for spots that are hard to reach

Please don’t ignore the safety precautions, especially regarding sawdust. If you use a high-powered cutting tool (Dremel, etc), you’ll be generating a lot… a LOT… of sawdust from the gourd, and it is very, very fine. The faster the tool, the more dust you’ll create. Many gourd artists opt for mini-jigsaws with variable speeds, to control the cutting and minimize dust. In addition to dust masks and goggles, you should work in a well-ventilated area.

The insides of your rubber gloves are sweaty and got dirt in them, this is a great way to make then blean and dry for a quick reuse.
Also, you can see how I turn them inside out quickly. Many people have a difficult time turning their gloves inside out to dry or when one of the fingers has been stuck inside out.
Here is how to turn them the right way round without blowing into them, which could be bad if they previously had chemicals or even raw chicken on them.
Naturally, I got this from my mother, the nurse.

Hi, It’s Sprig Barton
I’m going to show you how to clean out the inside of your rubber
gloves if you get them stinky or sweaty
or dirty.
Pretend right, I’ve got these gloves on
and they are all dirty on the inside
and I can feel how horrible they are
I’ve got all this aaaah
Say, I’ve even worn them in the garden and Ive got dirt inside.
The first thing you do is get this side of the gloves clean.
you can use dish soap or hand soap or whatever you like
just clean them really well.
as if you were cleaning your own hands
rinse them off well with pretty hot water.
Because that kills more germs and dirt and grease
OK
and then because you don’t know if you are
drying your hands or a dish
you can use either the hand towel or the dish towel.
right.
ok.
Now the outside is clean!
great right!
So the inside is filthy dirty and stinky,
turn them inside out
I’m going to wash my hands
Remember, your hands have to be dry and clean
put them on again inside out
and
I’ve got them on inside out
Ive got some more soap
and soap them up inside out
That’s getting them clean,
Go over to the sink,
rinse them really well,
dry them off.
ooooooh
nice and clean
nice and dry
So they are clean and dry again
am I in focus…
So they are clean and dry again
on the inside
you just have to
take them off
and fix them.
and that’s all there is to cleaning
the inside and outside of
your stinky sweaty rubber gloves.
Thanks for watching me clean my gloves
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