How to peel a play gourd

Many people like gourds and even pay high prices to buy them as collectibles. However, most people's knowledge of gourds only exists in the cartoon Calabash Brothers and the utensils used to scoop water decades ago. In recent years, a group of people have quietly emerged who like to collect gourds and are willing to pay high prices for them. Directly purchasing finished products can no longer meet everyone's needs, and many people want to make them themselves. So how do you peel the ornamental gourd? How do you choose?

Step 1: Choose gourds with white skin for peeling. If the skin of the gourd is green, it is best not to peel it. Even if you force the skin to peel, most of the time the gourd will not stay after drying.

Step 2: Starting from the top of the gourd, use a bamboo board to gently scrape off the skin of the gourd. (If you don’t have a bamboo board, you can use a plastic card or the end of a bamboo chopstick)

Step 3: Be careful to protect the gourd stem and do not break it during the skinning process.

Step 4: Beat out the upper part first. The beaten gourd will be grass green.

Step 5: Then beat the skin of the whole gourd one by one.

Step 6: Clean the skin at the bottom of the gourd. If the skin at the bottom is not cleaned, it will easily become moldy.

Step 7: When peeling the skin, you can use your legs to hold the gourd and scrape it from top to bottom, which is more labor-saving.

Step 8: After beating everything, it is best to use iron shavings to gently polish the outer skin of the gourd and wipe off the skin in places that were not beaten. (It is best to use a dishwashing pad or dry loofah)

Step 9: Dip the outer surface of the gourd with alkaline water.

Step 10: Hang the processed gourd in a cool place, but not on the ground. (Never place it in the air duct, as it will cause the gourd to dry too quickly and wrinkle.)

Step 11: After it is completely dry, dry it in the sun for several days. The drying time will be determined by the color change of the gourd skin.

Note:

1. The skin of a new gourd cannot be peeled immediately, otherwise the gourd will easily fall out.

2. The faucet should be yellow. If the gourd faucet is not yellow, you can hang the gourd in a ventilated and cool place with a rope. The gourd should be light, and you should not scrape off the gourd skin when it is particularly heavy!

3. After peeling the gourd, soak it in clean water and brush it again with a clean dishcloth. This is because you are afraid that the skin was not scraped cleanly enough the first time! Or not scraped evenly. After all the above work is done, hang the gourd in a high place (cool and ventilated place) with a rope!

Selection of Wenwan gourd:

1. First, you must choose a thoroughly dry gourd, and then it must be of good shape and have a genuine core, so that it has collection value!

2. The ornamental gourd must have a dragon head, and the dragon head must be beautiful. Only in this way can it be beautiful, worthy of appreciation and collection. Don’t buy a gourd without a faucet.

3. Smell the gourd skin with your nose. A normal gourd skin should have a natural gourd fragrance, while those that have been tampered with will be odorless or have a pungent smell.

4. The gourds have been tampered with, such as being soaked in medicine. The skin of the gourds is very white. Such gourds have no collection value.

5. A good collectible gourd should have a very clean skin without any flaws. This is called perfection.

6. The heavier the gourd, the higher its density, which means the longer its growth period. Therefore, a gourd with a good density will feel slightly heavy in your hand when you play with it.