2 July 2020

There are two types of flower presses commonly used.

Dehydrate flowers using a microwave oven. This way, the heat dries out the moist in flower quickly and is ready to use immediately. It is the best way to retain the colour of the flower. However, we need to be very careful with the number of bursts and the time for each burst. Either excessive heat or insufficient heat will damage the flower.

A more traditional way of flower pressing is through pressure. I prefer to use multiply-layer silicon/paper pulp boards with sponge sheets, pressured between two wooden boards by velcro straps. The beauty of using this type of press is time is at our side. And, relatively, we can press a large number of flowers in one setting. It takes about three days to dehydrate the flowers, such as pansies, lobelia and verbena. When it comes to pressing large flowers, we need to replace the damp silicon boards every three days.

Tips for pressing flowers:

• Pick and press the flowers when they are beautiful and blossom. Do not wait until the flower has passed the blooming stage. The petals may fall apart after pressing.
• Mornings are always better than afternoons to cut flowers. Do not cut them when they are wet.
• Make sure the flower is completed dehydrated before storage. Moist will discolour and wrinkle the flower over time.