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Learn How to Preserve Flowers with these Tips

We list the best ways to preserve flowers so you can hold onto their special meaning for a long time to come.
flowers

Receiving a bouquet of flowers can certainly be one of the greatest feelings. Depending on who they’re coming from and why, flower arrangements are sentiments that can symbolize an undying love, never-ending friendship, unwavering support or any other number of things. But as much as a bouquet of flowers can certainly be beautiful the moment you receive them, we all know that cut flowers will eventually lose their shape and begin to wilt. We’ve gone over some ways in which you can help keep flowers fresh longer, but even then, those are just some tricks that can help your flowers last with fullness for a few additional days. So, is there any way to preserve flowers for a longer period of time? Actually, a great solution to this problem is to press and dry your flowers so you can cherish the meaning behind them for a long time to come.

Press Flowers in a Book

A very simple and efficient way to help preserve flowers is to, yes, place them inside a book. As odd as that may sound, you’ll want to lay out your flowers in between two pieces of white paper placed inside of a book, making sure to leave enough room so no flower is touching one another. Then, close the book, and place additional books on top to give the stack a bit of weight. After a few weeks, you should have beautiful, pressed flowers.

Press Flowers Using an Iron

For a much quicker alternative to pressing flowers, use an iron! This process can take only a couple minutes, and garner fantastic results. To do so, just arrange your flowers in parchment paper and then place the parchment paper between two paper towels. Keep your iron free of any water and set it to medium heat, pressing down on the flowers for intervals of 10 to 15 seconds. For about three minutes, you’ll want to press with the iron of 10 to 15 seconds, let up for a few, and continue up to another 15 seconds. By the end, you’ll have exceptional, preserved flowers you can cherish forever.

Press Flowers in Your Microwave

Another way to preserve dried flowers is to use a microwave. For this quick alternative, you’ll need a few pieces of cardboard, some paper towels, and rubber bands. What you’ll want to do is place three paper towels on one piece of cardboard, and then arrange your flowers on top. Put three more paper towels over the flowers, and sandwich them with another piece of cardboard. Wrap rubber bands around the exterior in order to keep the two pieces of cardboard together, and microwave your flowers for up to two minutes. Allow them to cool down and repeat the process until you have pressed, preserved flowers.

Air Dry Your Flowers to Preserve Them

Instead of pressing your flowers, you can also air dry them, which may be the most common method of preservation. To get the best results, you should aim to begin the process just after the flowers begin to open. Prune any leaves on the stems and rubber band flowers of the same species together, up to a bundle of about 10 flowers. Take the flower bundles and hang them upside down between two and four weeks, and you should have yourself some dried, preserved flowers!

Now that you know a handful of ways how to preserve flowers, try them out and hold onto your cherished memories forever. For more helpful information like this, check out our guide to writing good birthday card messages, and learn about the birth flowers by month.