Drying Flowers
How to dry flowers.
Hand-drying and Our Process.
Drying flowers might seem like a simple task only at first glance. Not every flower type is the same, and each one requires its own method to get the best results.
Find out more about all the available techniques and general rules here.
Here, at Pirita Blooms, we do flower preservation by hand. Combining most of the methods listed here and experimenting with our materials, we craft the process ourselves and choose the one that preserves the original colours and shapes best.
Rules of drying
Pick flowers only in dry weather, when all dew is gone. Wet plants might get easily attacked by mold.
Collect more material, as some flowers might get damaged during drying. This way you will also have the opportunity to select the best result.
If you notice any mold on your flowers, please discard the affected piece straight away. Firstly, mold spreads very quickly and can damage other materials. Secondly, it is not safe for your lungs and sinuses!
Pick the best looking flowers or petals without any spots or scratches. Even tiniest spots will look bigger and more unattractive after drying.
In addition to flowers, there are also branches, grasses, leaves, berries, seeds, moss and even tree roots that can be dried and used as decoration.
Dried flowers can become quickly covered with dust. To avoid this, you can store the flower accessory in a box and in a dry dark place. Dust from the dry flower home decor can be carefully removed with a soft makeup brush or a fan on a cool setting.
The harvested plants must be dried as soon as you pick them. Otherwise, it will be much more difficult to straighten the petals.
Picked or already dried flowers cannot be left in the direct sunlight, as they will start losing colour immediately.
You can protect the arrangement with dried flowers by covering it with glass (shadow box frame or glass container).
Rules of drying
1
With a book or heavy press
This is the simplest, most popular and most accessible of all methods. It is suitable for flat flowers or greenery, for example, tiny field flowers or big rose petals.
Take an old book, where the paper is offset: glossy does not absorb moisture well. Any old newspaper will also be a good alternative, just ensure the paper doesn’t have any wrinkles that might damage fragile petals.
Make a pocket out of the white paper or tissue paper, lay the plants flat on it and make sure that they don’t touch each other.
Put the prepared composition either inside the book or under it. If you put the paper with flowers inside the book, skip a few pages if you wish to add a second batch. This is necessary so that the remains of the paint are not imprinted on the flowers and to create room for moisture to absorb.
Instead of plain paper, you can also use tissues, just make sure that they are completely flat with no wrinkles.
After filling the book, leave it for a week or two in a dry corner of the room. You can also add weight to your book with more books on top.
2
In the air
A well-ventilated dark corner of the room is required to dry materials with this method. The room should be clean, dry and dust-free. Heat and lack of air will ruin the appearance of plants. Flowers should never be dried in direct sunlight: the sun destroys chlorophyll and the plants lose their colour.
To air dry the flowers, stretch a rope or wire between the walls and hang metal hooks. Flowers should be hung upside-down to allow any moisture to escape easily. Usually, flowers are hung on such hooks separately, but drying in bunches is also possible. The most important thing is not to tie the bundles too tight. This can break the stems and crush the petals.
Another way to air-dry flowers is to discard the stems and to put the heads into the box layered with tissue or kitchen towel. You can make up to 2 layers in each box with tissue between the layers, at the bottom and on the top of the box. Make sure that the bottom layer has stronger flowers that do not crush and mold easily. Do not cover this box with a lid to allow as much air ventilation as possible.
Please bear in mind that this method does not suit some plants and flowers, as the flowers deform easily, sometimes lose colour too much and can turn completely brown (ex.: big roses, chrysanthemums, chamomile will most probably turn brown).
3
In semolina
This method is the most suitable for drying delicate flowers with interesting shapes, which need to be preserved. This method allows to preserve the original shape with almost no deformation or discolouration.
To use this method, take a plastic box with a lid, and firstly, cover the bottom of the box with a thin layer of semolina flower. Secondly, place your materials, making sure that they don't touch each other and that flower heads are facing down. It's advisable to cut the stems short. Cover your first layer of materials with semolina and add on layers as many as needed.
Close the lid and put the box in the dark corner for about a week or two.
When the flowers have completely dried, you can easily remove semolina from small petals with a soft brush.
In the same way, flowers can be dried with special fine ground silica gel designated for flower drying. You will have to be mindful that little pieces can leave marks on fragile petals.