Easy Tips to Press Flowers

Flowers are items that people always want to reserve their sentimental value. No matter where you get those flowers, from friends, family or coworkers, the main reason for getting flowers is to bring an everlasting joy. These flowers may dry out with time, but there are ways you can preserve their beautiful blooms in addition to those special memories.

Choosing The Right Flowers to Press

Gather wildflowers from a nearby field, or you can pick these flowers from your garden or your neighbour’s garden with their permission. If you can’t find your desired flower from the field or your garden, you can visit a florist with any type of flower or order online. When plucking flowers, pluck those that just open or those in their buds; this time, they have the best colour. Choose petals or blossoms that are still perfect and have not been damaged by insects, bruised, torn, or wilted.

For easy pressing, choose flowers that have flat faces naturally like violets, pansies, or apple blossoms. These flowers are easy to press than three-dimensional-shaped flowers like peonies, orchids, and lilies. If the flower you like is in 3Ds, you can take them apart during pressing and reassemble them after pressing.

When picking flowers, pick them at the right time. Flowers that are wet with rain or dew are prone to moulding when pressing, and flowers plucked in a hot afternoon are more likely to fade.

Different Ways to Press

The pressing of flowers comes in different ways with some of them requiring more tools than others. Try using different methods to know the one that will work best for you. Some of these DIY flower pressing methods are as follows:

The Use of a Wooden Flower Press

Follow the steps below to make and use the wooden flower press:

- Get plywood and cut two pieces into 9-inch by 12-inch rectangles. On the two sides of each rectangular plywood, drill holes and make sure they are in line when placed on each other.

- Get two pieces of paper and place the flower between them. Now place the combination between the two plywood in the form like wood followed by paper followed by flower followed by paper then wood.

- Look for bolts and wingnuts to fasten the whole piece together. Make sure you are changing the blotter sheets every three to four days to help prevent browning. The flowers need to stay pressed for about four weeks.

The Use of a Book to Press Flowers

This seems to be the most common way of pressing flowers nowadays because it is the easiest. Get books like a phone book or a dictionary or any other heavy book. Since these flowers will be losing moisture, the moisture may cause the book pages to wrinkle; so use books you don’t mind getting destroyed.

-          Open the book to the middle; look for two different pieces of paper and place the flower between them. Now, place this in the middle of the book you opened. You can press as many flowers as possible depending on the size of the book you are using. Make sure you are putting enough space between these flowers to prevent the transfer of moisture from one flower to the other.

-          Once you close the book, place more books or a brick to add more weight to the book with flowers and do not disturb the arrangement.

-          Make sure you replace the blotter sheets every three to four days. The flowers will be pressed and dried completely after two to three weeks of pressing. Use a pair of tweezers when removing the flowers (or your fingers) because they will be very delicate.

The Use of Iron to Press Flowers

The use of iron is the fastest means of pressing flower; you need to consider this option if you cannot wait for two to four weeks. For other flower pressing methods, you needed to use two absorbent paper and pressed with heavy books. However, for the iron method, make sure the iron does not have water because you wouldn’t want to add water or moisture to the flower again.

Place the flower between two pieces of flower, heat the iron on low and place it on the top paper for around 10 to 15 seconds. Unlike when ironing clothes, do not glide front and back. Cool the paper for another 15 seconds and repeat the process. Lift the paper carefully to see if the flower is dry and stiff.

The Use of a Microwave to Press Flowers

You can buy flower microwave presses or make one yourself. To do this, you can make use of rubber bands to hold two ceramic tiles together. After getting a book flower press done, you can microwave it but make sure that there are no metal parts like the staples used in binding the book.

- When using ceramic tiles, line a piece of paper and a piece of cardboard on each side. Place the flower in the middle of this arrangement and sandwich everything together

- With the use of a low temperature, heat the whole piece for 30 to 60 seconds, allow it to cool and heat again. Do not use high heat because it can change the flower to brown very fast.

- After drying the flowers with microwave, finish the pressing process by using the traditional flower press. They will dry in less than two days.

Once you can finish the pressing process successfully, these flowers will stay in your collection for as long as you want. You will be able to preserve the memory of each flower.