There are so many methods for trying to squeak a few extra days out of your carved pumpkin, like Vaseline, hair spray, and maybe even prayer. What trick works the best?

Pumpkins can really let us down this time of year. We find the perfect pumpkin at the patch, haul out the knives, ice cream scoops, and sometimes power tools to carve out the perfect design, and then the dang thing rots on the front step two days before Halloween.

Are we safe to carve it now?

The internet consensus seems to be that the average carved pumpkin will last between 5 and 10 days. It's still a little risky right now if you expect it to still be smiling at your trick-or-treaters on Saturday.

There are ways to make the pumpkin last longer, and the most effective method seems to be bleach. After carving the pumpkin, I learn we should mist it with a bleach-based spray right away, and keep misting it every day through Halloween.

You can soak pumpkins overnight in a tub of cold water too, with a couple of tablespoons of bleach mixed in. That's supposed to re-hydrate, or in other words, keep the pumpkin's open mouth from sagging into a duck face pose.

If you're still looking for the perfect pumpkin, here are some good East Texas spots to go:

We'll watch for your incredible carvings on social media. Take pics on that first day in case they rot!

More From 107-3 KISS-FM