Make the Memories Last: How to Preserve Your Flowers

by Robert Canning on October 15, 2021

Flowers can only last for so long. However, despite your best efforts, they won’t stay fresh forever. Flowers only look good for a while, but they all slowly wilt after a certain amount of time. 

However, that doesn’t mean there’s no way to make your lovely blooms last. To keep them fresh longer, you have to take out all their moisture through air-drying or pressing. There are plenty of flower preservation methods available. However, there are four easy and reliable ways to do it for every kind of person. 

Air-Drying for the Patient and Meticulous

Air-drying is a classic and traditional method of preserving flowers. All you have to do is hang your flowers upside down and let the air dry them out gradually over time. The problem with this method is that it can be pretty finicky. 

Ideally, the flowers will stay intact until it dries out. But as you’re waiting for them to dehydrate, you have to hope that they won’t shed their petals or that mould won’t attack them. 

That’s why you’ll have to keep checking on them every day to ensure that they are still intact. The benefit of using this method is that it does preserve the flowers with their stems. 

Book-Pressing for the Patient and Carefree

If air-drying makes you nervous only brings you anxiety, maybe book-pressing is a better method for you. Book-pressing is a fine and easy way to preserve your flowers and achieve beautiful results. 

This method offers the lowest risk and highest rate of success. You can also press any variety of flowers. Of course, just like air-drying, the process takes quite a while. You’re going to have to be patient before you can see the fruits of minimum labour. 

Drying out your flowers through book-pressing can take anywhere from a month to just a little more or less. It depends on where your book is placed and is almost like a game of luck. 

At the very least, this method requires not much work or effort on your end, just a lot of time. Note that hardcover books will work the best for this method.

Silica Gel for the Impatient and Meticulous 

Of course, not everyone has the time and patience to wait weeks for months before they can see their nicely preserved flowers on display. For fast results, you can place your flowers in a container with silica gel in it. It’s like the sped-up version of air-drying. 

Just like air-drying, it requires you to be meticulous and pay close attention to the flowers. There is a tendency for this method to overdry the flowers leading to the petals becoming fragile and crumbling easily.

This process comes with its own set of risks and disadvantages. You should know that silica gel is made up of silicon dioxide, a key component of sand. Although it can be pretty expensive, you can rest assured that it is at least reusable if you plan on using this method a lot. 

Microwave Pressing for the Impatient and Carefree

If you happen to be comfortable with a little bit of risk and experimentation, microwave pressing is the faster alternative to book-pressing. Microwaves are an excellent way to dry your flowers quickly and with little to no hassle and stress. 

The radiation in the microwave heats the liquid inside the flowers, which then escapes as vapour and leaves you with nicely dried blooms. 

While you might have some doubts about using the microwave to preserve your flowers, you don’t need to worry. It’s an entirely safe way to do this. However, you will have to accept that the results might not be consistent. It might take some trial and error before you can entirely rely on this method. Just like any other shortcut, there is a high chance of getting mixed results. 

Summary

There are plenty of ways you can preserve your most precious flowers. However, some methods are more complicated than others. For the most part, once you try one or all of these methods, you’ll probably be able to find the technique that suits you best. 

Air-drying and pressing are excellent ways to keep your memories alive somehow. You can even laminate or ensure that it lasts for a long, long time. No matter which method you use, you can end up with beautiful results.

Upscale and Posh is a floral shop that provides customers with beautiful flowers at an affordable price. Browse our selection now and see what works for you. You don’t have to worry about choosing the right flowers, arrangements, or bouquets because we’ve got the best florists in Dubai to help you find the perfect thing to send your loved ones. 

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