Dot Flowers | Drying and Pressing Flowers for Preservation and Crafts

Drying and Pressing Flowers

For centuries, the practice of drying and pressing flowers has served a number of purposes, from botanical studies to artistic expression to simple remembrance. A pressed flower is like a photograph, recalling times and places long passed. Dried and pressed flowers can be used for a number of fun floral crafts or cherished as personal keepsakes. If you're looking to preserve your favorite blooms, there are many different methods of drying and pressing flowers available for both novices and experts alike. From building your own flower press to drying flowers in the microwave, we've complied a number of ways you can help your flowers last forever.

Picking Flowers for Drying and Pressing

The fresher your flowers, the better they will press. Be sure to properly condition your flowers by ensuring they are adequately hydrated, which can be done easily by following our cut flower care tips. Whether you press your flowers immediately or after a few days in a vase, you want to make sure that they are in good condition. Remove any wilted petals or curled leaves, and if you haven't already done so, carefully remove any stamens with pollen that may stain your flower. For many of the methods below, slight flaws or bruises on your flowers will become more obvious after drying. This can add to the individual charm of your pressed flowers and be quite unique, but if you're looking to create perfectly preserved flowers, start with as perfect a bloom as you can find. You want your flower to be dry to the touch, but still firmly hydrated before you begin the pressing process. Depending on the method of drying you choose, thicker flowers may be more difficult to press and might not dry as thoroughly, so consider taking the flower apart before pressing and then reassembling the petals with glue after they have been dried. Thinner flowers dry faster, and the faster a flower dries, the better its color will be preserved.

Hanging Out: The Easiest Way to Dry Flowers

Hanging flowers is the easiest, least involved way of drying flowers. Instead of using pressure to squeeze the moisture out of flowers, you rely on air to carry the moisture away. Simply rubber band your flowers together, tie a string around the rubber band, and hang them upside down in a dark, dry, airy place where they will not be disturbed. This method generally takes about four weeks, and while keeping your drying flowers in the dark will help preserve the color, blooms generally darken during air drying. Works well with roses, baby's breath, lavender, and thistles, but hang drying is not recommended for carnations.

Under Pressure: Using Pressing Methods to Preserve Flowers

One of the most popular methods for drying flowers is to put them under pressure, to basically squeeze the moisture out while leaving the flower's color and structure largely intact. There are several ways to apply pressure to flowers, from placing them in heavy books to purchasing a professional flower press. Here are some guidelines for pressing flowers the traditional way:

Pressing Flowers in Books: You can simply place flowers in a heavy book and wait for them to dry, but this method takes at least a month. An old phone book is a good choice, or a thick encyclopedia (as long as you don't mind the possibility of damaging its pages). Consider placing your flower between a couple sheets of acid-free blotting paper or even printer paper, which will help absorb moisture, protect your book, and keep the petals from absorbing ink or being degraded by residual printing acids. Any additional pressure you apply, such as stacking books or other heavy objects on top, will help speed the process. Check your flowers infrequently, and gently straighten any furled leaves or petals. If the surrounding paper is damp, carefully peel your flowers off by bending the page away and then continue pressing your flowers in the book with dry paper. Your flowers are ready when they feel dry to the touch and are rigid, not limp. This method works best with simple garden flowers and petals, but can make thicker flowers look squashed.
Pressing Flowers in a Flower Press: There are a variety of flower presses available for sale both online and in local craft supply stores. You'll find a range of sizes and designs, and the results from these presses are usually quite good. Be sure to shop around and find a flower press designed to fit your needs. For example, if you have arthritis or would otherwise find it difficult to tighten screws, look for a flower press that uses velcro straps or rubber ties to create pressure. Or, if you want to use heat to quicken the process, look into microwave presses. Flower presses are usually simple to use and come with easy to follow directions, but pricing can be prohibitive, particularly considering the relatively inexpensive alternative of making your own.
The Easiest Flower Press to Make: Creating your own flower press is an easy and rewarding activity that requires very little investment. You can create a simple flower press using two pieces of corrugated cardboard, newspaper, a few sheets of blotter or printer paper, and three large rubber bands. Just put your flowers between a few pieces of paper, place them between the pages of the newspaper, sandwich the newspaper between the cardboard, and hold it all together with the rubber bands, evenly spaced. You will want to apply more pressure by placing heavy objects on top. Can take up to a month or more to dry thick flowers completely, but thinner flowers may be done in about two weeks.
Building a Better Flower Press: Making a professional quality flower press is also a relatively simple alternative to buying one at a store, but does take a little bit of time. Here's the process we used to build our favorite flower press:

First, assemble your materials. You will need:

2 wood boards of equal size and thickness
1 inch thick piece of polyester fiberfill, about an inch and a half smaller in length and width than your boards. Available at fabric stores.
2 pieces of fine nylon fabric the same length as your fiberfill. Available at fabric stores.
1 can of spray fabric adhesive. Available at fabric and craft stores.
4 bolts, at least an inch longer than the total thickness of your boards and polyester fiberfill, with matching washers and wing nuts.
Drill with drill bit size appropriate for bolts.
Clamps

Once you have your supplies, you can start building your press. Place your boards on top of each other, making sure the edges match up, and clamp them securely together. Use your drill and appropriately sized drill bit to make 4 holes, one in each of the corners, about an inch from the corner point. You should now have two boards with four holes each that will match up perfectly when the bolts are inserted.
After drilling, separate your boards and decide which one will be the bottom of your press. Keep the best looking board for use as the top, which you can decorate when you have finished building your press. Take the bottom board and spray the inside with your fabric adhesive, then place your fiberfill down in the center. Spray the top of your fiberfill with the adhesive, and cover it with the first piece of nylon fabric. Press down on the nylon and fiberfill to make sure the adhesive will stick. Next, spray your adhesive on the inside of the top board and press your second piece of nylon into it, doing your best to make sure it will match up with the fabric on the bottom board. Let dry.
The final step in building your flower press is to simply insert your bolts from the outside of your bottom board through to the outside of the top board, and screw on the wing nuts. You now have a great flower press, which you can decorate with paints or even your own pressed flowers!
One of the best things about this press is that it is infinitely expandable. You can create layers upon layers of pressed flowers simply by using fiberfill attached to particle board as a divider. You're only limited by the length of your bolts!

Better Than it Sounds: Using Desiccants to Dry Flowers

A desiccant is simply a substance with a high affinity for water which can be used as a drying agent. Silica gel is probably the best choice, although it is expensive. A less pricey alternative is to use fine builder's sand (silica sand) or clean, fine beach sand. Simply place your flowers in a container with about two inches of the desiccant on the bottom, and then carefully sift in more of the drying agent until your flowers are securely supported and completely covered by at least a quarter inch of the material. Simple, flat flowers can be placed face down, but all other flowers should have their open side facing upwards so that the drying agent can be gently sifted in among the petals. Leave the container in a dark, dry, cool place for about 2 days to 2 weeks. Unless you are using silica gel, which will absorb moisture from the air, leave the container open. You can check to see if your flowers are ready every couple of days or so by carefully brushing away the material until the tips of the petals are exposed. If the tips are dry and rigid to the touch, continue to remove the material and check for dryness until the entire flower is exposed, and then gently extract it from the container. When it comes to flowers which are delicate, very moist, easily wilted, open formed, or have a deep interior, using a drying agent is the best way to maintain their shape and color.

Some Like it Hot: Using Microwave Heat to Dry and Press Flowers

Heat drying is the fastest way to preserve flowers, and is especially good for maintaining their colors. You can simply use plates in the microwave to press your flowers while heating, or you can microwave them in silica gel. Microwaving your flowers is probably the quickest and least expensive method for drying flowers, although it will take some experimentation to get the timing and power level right for your microwave. Simply place several sheets of paper towel on a flat plate with a sheet of blotter paper on top, place your flower on the blotter paper, cover it with another sheet of blotter paper, add more paper towels on top, and cap it off with another plate. It's best to start with one flower at time, but once you've got the timing down, you can start doing multiple flowers as long as they don't overlap. Drying multiple flowers does take longer, which can degrade their color. Use the low-medium setting or a power range between 2 - 3, and begin heating for 1 minute at a time. Usually, this method will take less than five minutes. As soon as your flowers are mostly rigid and feel dry to the touch, leave them in the microwave to finish drying with the power off.

Silica gel can be used in the microwave with fantastic results. Simply place about an inch of silica gel in the bottom of a small cardboard box, create a mound in the center to support your flower, place your flower face down on the mound, and carefully fill the box with the rest of your gel. Leave at least an inch at the top of the box to catch any silica gel that might escape during heating. Microwave on low to medium for one minute, and then let your container sit for about half an hour before carefully checking the petals for dryness. If necessary, repeat the process until your flower is rigid but not brittle.

Caring For Your Dried and Pressed Flowers

Once your flowers have been pressed and are thoroughly dry, you can use them for a number of fun floral crafts or practical flower projects. Otherwise, you will need to carefully store your flowers to help preserve their beauty. If your flowers are flat, you can leave them inside a hardcover book or your flower press, as long as the book or press is kept in a cool and dry location. Alternatively, you can store your dried flowers in an opaque, airtight container, which will protect them from light and humidity. Consider placing some packets of silica gel (you can generally find these in shoe boxes) inside the container to help guard against moisture damage. We hope you your preserved flowers will bring you happy memories for years to come.

Questions? Comments? Exciting pictures of how your dried and pressed flowers turned out? Let us know by sending an email to articles@dotflowers.com, and we may post your stories or pictures on the site!