FirstCall Medical Center wants you all to enjoy Halloween this October! Getting in the spooky spirit is hard work, a lot of decorations need to be placed around the house as tradition. One of the most famous decorations of Halloween is pumpkin carving! Pumpkin carving, unfortunately, is also one of the most dangerous. Use the pumpkin carving safety tips below to make sure you are being safe carving your pumpkin!
Make sure to clean everything
When you are going to start carving your pumpkin you should make sure the area you will be doing the cutting in is cleaned up! While handling a knife or any sharp object, you wouldn’t want to slip or fall over an object left on the floor. The utensils themselves should be clean such as:
- Knife
- pumpkin
- hands
If the knife is not clean it is possible something could be covering the blade not letting it cut into the pumpkin & slip off cutting your hand that is holding it. The pumpkin needs to be cleaned for the same reason. Hands should always be cleaned before handling the pumpkin in case they are slippery or sticky.
Don’t Sharpen the knives
It is a common misconception that knives are to be sharpened before their use. This, however, is extremely dangerous & does not make carving the pumpkin easier at all! Unless you work with pumpkins, you do not know exactly how hard to cut it with a knife. If the knife is too sharp it can cut right through the pumpkin into something else such as furniture, or limbs.
Buy a pumpkin carving kit
The easiest way to avoid problems with carving a pumpkin with tools from home is too buy a pumpkin carving kit! Around this time of the year, pumpkin carving kits are extremely accessible & very cost effective! When you buy a pumpkin carving kit it comes with the correct tool so you don’t have to go out & use your own! A kit will sometimes include some stencils & and pins to help make designs on your pumpkins! We hope these tips will help you stay away from any pumpkin carving related injuries this Halloween!