Take me to the Steps

mummify

Why mount a stinky fish on the wall when you can mummify a banana and mount it instead? How cool is that!

Some say Egypt is the birthplace of civilization with its architecture, hieroglyphics, and — even more famous — its mummies. Mummification is the process of drying and/or embalming a dead person, animal, or plant, mainly to preserve it from decay. Regular household baking soda is similar to salts the ancient Egyptians used for desiccation — drying out the body — and that’s what you’ll use on your banana.

Project Steps

Desiccate your banana

Cover the bottom of the box with baking soda, 1″ deep or more. Place the banana on top, then cover it with a blanket of baking soda. Place the box in a warm, dry spot in the house.

Within a week, you’ll notice the banana has started to shrink. Its moisture is being absorbed by the baking soda. Remove the banana from the hardened soda bed, break up the soda chunks, then cover with a new blanket of soda. Keep desiccating your banana this way for 6 months.

Varnish it

After 6 months the banana will be shrunken and black, wrinkly like a raisin and soft like leather. Gently brush and scrub away the soda, then use a heat gun or hair dryer to dry the banana even more.

Tie the stem to a wire coat hanger. Cover your banana with a thick coat of varnish. You want it to look glassy in appearance. Hang it to dry.

I made two banana mummies, one wrapped and one unwrapped. I like the unwrapped better. For the wrapped one, I cut ½” strips of an old bedsheet, soaked them in varnish, then wrapped the banana tightly from the bottom up.

Mount it

Nail your banana mummy on a wooden plaque and mount it on the wall for all to see. If King Tut were alive today, he would be proud.