If you are passionate about nature and want to keep the flowers you pick in good condition for a long time, but you don’t know how to go about it. Here we will show you several methods to natural dry flowers and that they remain as beautiful as the first day.
Did you know that in the 15th century it was fashionable natural dry flowers by women for their herbaria?
However, in Japan, it was the military who dried the flowers and framed them to recreate places and experiences.
Today, there are art associations that still preserve the Japanese technique and hold exhibitions around the world.
However, at present, the drying of natural flowers is generally carried out by individuals who wish to keep a memory of a trip, or of a moment experienced. If you are one of those people… then we leave you some methods to easily dry natural flowers.
read more: the importance of plants and flowers in our mood.
Contents
How to dry flowers with pressing?
Surely you have never put natural dry flowersbecause you think the process can be a very expensive method.
However, the pressing technique is one of the oldest that exists and is really easy to apply.
Simply :
- Choose small flowers and leaves.
- Spread the flowers on newspaper and cover them with a layer of the same paper.
- Cover them again with blotting paper and a final layer of cardboard.
Our recommendation is to seal the corners of the carton with cellophane so that the flowers and leaves are airtight and that in case of moisture release there are no leaks.
Once you have it, it is important that you place them on a flat table and put some heavy books on them. This way, the weight of the books will eventually squeeze the flowers.
read more: tips for keeping cut flowers longer
How long do natural flowers take to dry?
It will take a week to change the newspaper, blotter and cardboard for new ones.
When you have it, repeat the pressing process and wait another week for them to take their final shape. What was easy?
How to air dry flowers?
This technique is used when you want use flowers to decorate vases or bouquets of dried flowers.
Normally, long-stemmed flowers are those that they work better with this type of drying, so you can decorate the empty corners of your home with large vases.
However, it is important that you pay particular attention to the shape you want to have in your decoration. Well, once the flowers are dry, there will be no turning back.
To air dry natural flowers, you will need:
- Put the flowers in a bouquet of small size, giving it the desired shape.
- Remove the leaves from the stem so that you can hold the bouquet with a rope and prevent the flowers from falling apart.
you can use a raffia rope or other materialas long as it is firm and does not break the flowers.
Also keep in mind that over the days the flowers will lose moisture and their size will decrease. You will therefore need to adjust the string of the rods as needed.
- When you have the bodice well taken, place it upside down in a warm, dark and ventilated place. This way the flowers will not rot and will slowly dry out.
Did you know that with this technique the flowers do not lose their color?
read more: 15 flowering bushes for your garden
How long do natural flowers take to air dry?
Normally the method of natural dry flowers It takes two to four weeks to completely air dry.
Indeed, if you want to check if you have done a good drying, you just have to caress your flowers and see if they have a crispy consistency.
On the other hand, if you want avoid losing of one of its parts. You can throw some hairspray on it to keep the bouquet intact.
Why don’t you know that hairspray serves as a sealer?
How to dry flowers in a conventional oven?
For natural dry flowers in the convection oven you will need:
- Place a piece of chicken wire to hold the flower stems in so that the buds are facing up.
- Use a temperature of 38 degrees for 3 hours to dehydrate the flowers.
- Finally, remove the tray and let them cool in the ambient air.
- When you have them cold, you can handle them and apply hairspray as a sealer.
Finally, know that there is other natural flower drying methods such as microwave drying and airtight drying.
However, all methods have the same objective: to extract moisture from flowers with processes that do not damage their properties.
What are you waiting for to keep yours?