A bouquet of dried flowers provides indoor blooms which won’t fade or wilt. Preserving blooms from your garden demands the right goods to ensure they dry out completely and keep their beauty for as long as you possibly can. Though some products are especially created for drying flowers, you may also use some frequent household products to preserve the flowers.
Silica Gel
Silica gel crystals, available from craft stores and shops, provides a acceptable product for drying most blooms. The gel acts as a dessicate and absorbs all the moisture from the foliage fast but with no loss of color. Bury flowers in silica crystals in a sealed box for approximately one week or two until the petals are dry and papery. You can even reuse the crystals by drying them in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven for about one hour. Some silica crystal brands discard their blue tinge when they consume a lot of moisture, indicating it is time to oven dry them. The blue returns when the crystals dry.
Borax
Common household borax, usually available where cleaning and laundry products are offered, also works like a desiccate when combined with other ordinary goods. Combine equal parts borax and clean sand or cornmeal to create the drying medium. Sand works better using apartment flowers, since its weight tends to flatten the petals, whilst cornmeal is more acceptable for frilled petals or multi-petal flowers. Use borax and mud or cornmeal as you’d silica crystals to dry the flowers, but leave the drying container uncovered.
Flower Press
Pressing works best on flat blooms, since the process flattens the petals. Small flower presses are available or you could create your own. Most presses consist of two pieces of wood with a attached clamp to hold them together. The flowers are sandwiched between two sheets of blotting paper and newspaper, then slid between the wood pressing plates. Tightening the clamp applies pressure, which forces the extra moisture from their petals, so it is absorbed by the newspaper. Homemade presses usually utilize weights, like books or bricks, instead of clamps to provide pressure. Pressed flowers may take up to a week to dry completely.
Preservation Sprays
Dried flowers usually last for many months of screen before moisture and humidity begins to break them down. The blooms sometimes shatter and drop their habitats as the blooms age. Spraying the dried flowers with a transparent spray lacquer protects them from moisture and shattering. If the flower color fades after drying, floral dyes are available from crafts stores that allow you to tint the petals with brand new colour and prolong their screen existence.