Things About Dry Flowers

Many friends ask, Can flowers be put in crystal glue? The answer is obvious not, flowers will get cook because of crystal glue solidification heat then get rotten.

So how are dried flowers made? Some friends are eager to make their own, since it is not easy.

It is a handicraft with long lasting ornamental effect formed after drain out, preserving color and qualitative texture of natural plant by special methods. In recent years, due to it’s rich variety, strong decorative, lasting appreciation, and other characteristics, dried flower art has been like for people.

ⅰ Flower selection:

There are many kinds of flowers, different styles, present a variety of beauty, for us to make a different choice of glue. According to finished product form, dry flower is divided into 2D dry flower and 3D dry flower. The selection of the materials are advisable with low water content. Generally chose by production process characteristics of 2D dried flowers or 3D dried flowers. 3D  dried flowers need to be : good shape, large leaves, thick, hard texture, rigid, flexible leaves and more than 30 cm long, strong, good-looking branches and good upright branches; 2D are much simpler, no specific requirements.

Collecting Flower materials is a timing job, best in sunrise dew elimination of the morning (9:00-11:00), because there is no dew at this time, flowers and plants remain median water level, easy to preser after collection and drying dehydration. Bud should be Half open or Full open; The leaves should be fresh and green. Put it into the container immediately after harvest to prevent water lose.

ⅱ Drying treatment:

One: natural drying:

Air drying is the simplest and most commonly used method to make dried flowers. Choose a warm, dry and well-ventilated room, and the indoor temperature should not be less than 10 degrees Celsius. A well ventilated cabinets, a rooms with heating facilities, or attic or other areas are all good. You might want to consider the bedroom and dining room as air-drying sites since the process are very tempting.

As it takes quite long, which only suitable for the plant with low water content but high fiber content, such as wheat straw chrysanthemum, thousand day red, reed, blood herb, setaria, moss and so on. There are 3 method: Hanging method; Flat method and Vertical method. The hanging method is suitable for the plant materials with heavy flower panicle or slender stem and leaf, such as Baby's day star, amaranth on tail panicle, etc. Stand method is suitable for plant materials with larger flower shape and moderate toughness of branches, such as wheat straw chrysanthemum, thousand day red, etc. Vertical drying method is suitable for multi-flowered plant materials with hard or soft stems, such as reed flowers.

These natural drying method has a higher chance to succeed, which ensure the integrity of the flower and the plant very well. It can be used to do the bottle flowers, garlands and other products with high requirements on 3D ornaments. At the same time, the process is simple and the requirement are barely needed. Costing time will be consider as a Disadvantage , also exposing to the air makes it vulnerable to environmental factors, resulting in poor shape, color distortion, petal shrinkage and other problems.

Two: forced drying method

Using physical and chemical means to quickly release the water in the flower to the outside of the body, mean while, maximizing the overall effect of the flower. With the continuous development of the method, the advantage of forced drying in the production of dried flowers is more prominent, shorten the production time, and ensuring the integrity of the flower material and color brilliance.

Normal temperature pressing method: it is a common drying method for making flat dried flower materials, simple operation, without special equipment. Place the flower material in the kitchen paper, press on it with heavy weight or use specimen clip, place it in the place where the air flows away from light and wait for it to dry naturally. This method can be combined with heating and rapid drying method, the specific operation is in the process of flower pressing, use the Cloth iron to dry the kitchen paper until it is completely dry; This will not only speed up the production of flower material, but also play a anti-bactericidal effect. However, it should be noted that some varieties of flower material will fade at high temperature, which is not suitable to use heating and rapid drying.

Liquid method: this method is mainly applied to leaf and branch materials. Soak the collected leaf material into the bottle with the organic liquid according with a certain ratio, and place it in a ventilated and dark place. Let the water of plant be solve totally by the solution. Common Liquid solvents are: glycerin, alcohol, formic acid and so on, glycerin is the most commonly used among all. This method can maintain great softness and color retention, recommend for the production of small leaf planting materials.

Embedding drying method: this method is suitable for flowers with high water content, such as Chinese rose, peony, freesia, etc. The Flower get dried through the absorption of water by desiccant. Commonly used desiccant are color-changing silica gel, fine river sand, perlite, borax, alum and other materials. Bury the materials in a desiccant or other absorbent material, and place the container in a dry and ventilated place. This method can keep the three-dimensional sense and original color of the flower well.

Microwave drying method: is the fastest drying method, the use of ultra-short microwave instant drying, suitable for those that able to suffer high temperature, such as calendula, hundred days red, wheat chrysanthemum, etc.. Cover the plant material with desiccant and place it in microwave oven at proper temperature. Control the operation time to avoid burning the material. The method is fast and efficient.

Vacuum freeze-drying method: it emerge in recent years, freezes the water particles of plant  then sublimates the solidified water into steam in a vacuum to complete the dehydration of dried materials. This technology is suitable for large flower material, and can basically guarantee the original flower shape and color.

Detailed method of partial flower:

Collection materials:

The flower such as phalaenopsis orchid, cui Fink, geranium, peacock grass are very good dry flower materials, it is good to be collected in 9 o 'clock to 11 o 'clock, the flowers and plants that collect should be handled immediately, or be put in shade, in order to maintain fresh condition.

Material treatment method:

The collected flowers and plants are treated in two ways according to the purpose of making handicrafts:

1.Used to make greeting cards：

Need to prepare absorbent paper, corrugated paper, big iron clip, tweezers, etc. First in the corrugated paper, spread 2-3 layers of absorbent paper, and then put a layer of flowers, by putting 3 layers of flowers and plants, cover corrugated paper, with iron clip around, then to keep it on the stove or heating drying.

2.Use to make the branches:

Just let it dry naturally.

Use flower desiccant:

It is best to use flower desiccant with microwave for few minutes to produce flower in good shape and fine color.

Drying method :

(1) During draining, cut the flower branches short, leaving 1-2 inches (1 inch =2.54cm) at the bottom.

(2) Pour 2 inches of flower desiccant into the container, make a # hole in the middle with your hand, then put the flower head up into the hole, and bring the flower desiccant towards the bottom of the flower, so that the silica gel supports the petals.

(3) Fill the cup with flower desiccant, slowly pour the desiccant into the container, let the flower desiccant buried flowers. (Pour the glue carefully and slowly, so that the petals do not suffer from a large impact and change the natural shape.)

(4) Check after 2-3 days, it has been dried properly if the petals look like dry paper, otherwise it needs to be set for a bit more time. (Do not dry the petals for too long or it will get broke easily .)

(5) Finished Flower or plant should be brush carefully to remove the little silicone particles that hang on them.

Note:

(1) Several flowers can be dried in a container, but be separate. The used container can be reused after drying.

(2) Any well-sealed container, such as cake boxes, plastic containers, etc., can be used for drying flowers.

Direct combination and collocation of production.

ⅲ Dry flower caring needing attention:

1: how to clean the dried flower: it can not be washed by water. If washed with water, the colorful dried flowers will deteriorate and fade. Therefore, the cleaning work of dried flowers can only be blown with a low warm air blower. It is best to take dried flowers outside and blow them so that it won’t pollute the surroundings.

2: Dried flowers are process by dehydration, bleaching and dyeing. Generally, we don't use water to clean. But it is fine to sprayed with a very small amount of water. This gives the flower more vitality. It's better to add a few drops of scented essential oil to the water.

3: Dried flowers should be placed in a cool place. Dry, but not exposed to direct sunlight.

4: Spray them casually, so that it looks more dynamic.

ⅳ Preservation of dried flowers:

Dried flowers are made of natural plant materials, which are susceptible to the influence of external environmental factors in the preservation process, thus reducing the quality and ornamental effect of dried flowers. Therefore, damage such as light, temperature, humidity, bacteria should be prevent carefully during preservation.

1 on light

The oxidation reaction and photic action will happen on pigment molecule of dry flower under light, cause color fade, bright degree drops. The stronger the light, the faster breakdown of pigment molecules, shortening the lifespan of dried flowers. In result, Avoid direct facing of light is crucial.

2 Humidity Proof

Dried flower materials can become mildewed and blackened, thus affecting the ornamental value of the flowers. Therefore, the storage of dried flowers should be as we mentioned before: dry and ventilate, generally packed with cartons, the bottom of the box should be padded high, more than 10 cm away from the ground. Often flip and dry them under lights for a bit of time to avoid gems and bacteria.

3 insect-resistant

Under general conditions, dried flowers are not easy to suffer from insect pests, but once the harm the outcome is very serious. Species Insect susceptible: straw chrysanthemum, may have flower discs been hollow and petals been shed, seriously harming the ornamental value of dried flower materials. Dry flower pest control should be based on prevention, regular observation and spraying insecticide.

4 other

In the preservation of dried flowers, regular cleaning takes the priority. Generally, a hair dryer or alcohol spraying can be effective. But pay attention to the strength, because of the poor toughness of the flower.