Drying flowers properly - proven methods

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There are several methods of properly drying flowers. Read here which one is best for your purpose.

A dried bouquet is decorative.
A dried bouquet is decorative. © Martin rehseil / Pixelio

What you need:

  • To air dry:
  • a wire or a thin rope
  • a suitable place to dry
  • possibly a rust
  • To dry with silica gel:
  • Silica gel
  • lockable box
  • small brush
  • To dry with glycerine:
  • Glycerin
  • hot water
  • Vase

It can be a decorative bouquet that you can't part with or a flower that you want to keep in your memory. Perhaps you would also like to process your favorite flowers into a drying bouquet yourself. If you dry your flowers properly, you can keep them as souvenirs for a long time.

How to air dry the flowers

  1. If the flowers you want to dry are a full bouquet, it is best to air dry them. Then you don't need to take it apart for this.
  2. Don't wait too long to dry the bouquet in the vase, but hang it up while it still looks reasonably nice.
  3. It is best to tie individual flowers together in small bunches. This is great for making dried herb or lavender bunches, for example.
  4. Tie the bouquet as tightly as possible, as the stems become thinner when dry. Otherwise the bouquet might slip out over time.
  5. How do you dry flowers? - Instructions

    Flowers can be dried in several ways. Depending on which flowers you ...

  6. Hang the bouquet upside down in a convenient place with a wire or rope and let it hang until it is completely dry.
  7. To properly air dry flowers, you need a relatively dark and dry place. A room where the temperature is between 10 ° C and 15 ° C and is well ventilated is best.
  8. Alternatively, you can distribute individual flowers on a grid and then leave them in the same conditions as for the bouquet until they are dry. Another method of drying individual flowers is to use silica gel.

Make flowers really durable with silica gel

  1. Silica gel or silica gel is particularly suitable for drying individual flowers or blossoms. It is a highly water-attracting granulate that is often used as cat litter, for example.
  2. The best way to remove moisture from the flowers is silica gel if it is very fine. In this case, however, it is also better if you wear a face mask to protect the airways.
  3. Pour as much of the silica gel into a sealable can until the bottom is well covered.
  4. Now put the flowers or blossoms that you want to dry in the can. But make sure that they don't touch.
  5. Now add enough of the silica gel until all the flowers are completely covered and close the jar.
  6. After about two to three days, the flowers will be dry in the can. If you leave the flowers in the silica gel for too long, they may become brittle.
  7. Finally, use a small brush to remove the silica gel from the flowers and you will have a pretty dried flower as a memento.
  8. You can then dry the gel itself in the oven to use it again later.

 Dry flowers properly with glycerin

  1. With glycerine you can dry flowers, leaves, grasses or twigs to make a really decorative drying bouquet yourself.
  2. Thoroughly clean the stems of the flowers by removing the foliage. In the case of woody stems, it is best to remove some of the bark as well.
  3. Put one part glycerin and two parts hot water in a large enough vase and place the flowers in it.
  4. You can also preserve large leaves by placing them completely in the bath of water and glycerine.
  5. Depending on the type of flower, it can take up to four weeks for the water to evaporate and for the glycerin to be properly distributed throughout the flower.
  6. You can recognize flowers that have been correctly dried with glycerine by their slightly shimmering and flexible leaves. the Colours are mostly a bit faded or have a slight reddish brown volume accepted.

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