How to Dry Lavender for Sachets

Dried lavender has a pleasant fragrance.

Lavender is a flower in the mint family. It has a pleasant fragrance that is said to be calming. In addition to being used in flower bouquets, lavender can be dried and placed in a sachet bag. The sachet bag can be set anywhere in the house to provide a soothing scent. It is most popular in a bathroom, or under a bedroom pillow. Drying the lavender is much easier if you do it late in the summer.

Things You'll Need

• Gardening scissors
• Rubber band
• Aluminum pie tin

Instructions

1. Cut your lavender stems with gardening scissors. Insightful Nana recommends doing this at the end of August or the beginning of September. Drying times will be less when the flowers are no longer in bloom.

2. Remove any excess foliage from the stems and bunch your lavender in groups of 12.

3. Wrap each bunch of lavender stems with a rubber band to hold them together.

4. Turn the lavender upside down and hang each bunch from a hook in an attic or garage. You want the room to be dry and dark, but have good air circulation.

5. Set an aluminum pie tin under each bunch of lavender. Some of the buds will fall off during the drying process and you want to be able to catch them so you can use them in your sachet bag.

6. Wait one week for the lavender buds to completely dry. It will take longer for them to dry if you harvested them earlier in the season.

7. Shake the lavender stems to release the dried buds. Set the dried buds in your sachet bag.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are not ready to use the dried lavender, you can store it in an airtight container.

References

• Insightful Nana: Making Lavender Sachet Gifts
• Homemade Gifts Made Easy: How to Dry Lavender