How to Press & Dry Flowers Using a Microwave Oven

Embellish home decor projects with dried or pressed flowers.

Decorate your home with dried-flower bouquets or embellish craft and home decor projects with flowers that you have dried at home. The microwave is one method of both drying and pressing flowers. Manually pressing flowers takes up to two weeks, and air drying flowers takes up to a month. Air drying flowers also requires a cool, dry area, such as a basement or a barn, where the flowers can hang undisturbed. Drying flowers with a microwave takes minutes and leaves you with colors nearly as vibrant as when the flowers were fresh.

Things You'll Need

• Silica gel
• Microwave-safe container
• Scissors
• Microwave-safe cup
• Floral glaze
• Wax paper
• Book

Instructions

Drying

1. Cover the bottom of a microwave-safe container with 2 inches of silica gel. Silica gel is found in the floral aisle of craft stores.

2. Lay fresh-cut flowers on top of the silica, but do not let the flowers touch each other. Place daisies, pansies and other flat-petal flowers face down in the silica. Lay rosebuds, tulips and other tubular-shaped flowers on their side in the silica. Place roses and other deep-petal flowers face up so that the silica will support the petals.

3. Cover the flower blossoms and any attached stems completely with additional silica gel.

4. Place 1 cup of water in the back corner of the microwave. Place the container with the flowers and silica gel inside the microwave. Heat the flowers up to two minutes on full power, or until the flowers are dried. Remove them from the microwave.

5. Allow the dried flowers to sit for 10 minutes in the silica. Remove them from the container and arrange them separately on a sheet of wax paper. Spray the dried flowers with floral glaze to maintain the color and to protect the blossoms. Floral glaze is available in the floral aisle of craft stores. Spray more than one coat of floral glaze if you prefer shiny flowers; allow the glaze to dry between coats.

Pressing

1. Cut fresh flower blossoms from the stems, removing the stems completely. Sandwich the flowers between two open coffee filters. Make sure that petal flowers are flat and that tubular flowers are on their sides. Coffee filters help remove moisture from the flower blossoms.

2. Fit the coffee filters with the flowers between the pages at the back of a thick book. Place the book in the microwave. A phone book or hardback book at least 2 inches thick works best for this project.

3. Heat the book with the flowers in 30-second intervals until the flowers are almost dry. Flowers that are already flat, such as pansies, will take less time to press in the microwave than thicker flowers, such as rosebuds.

4. Remove the book from the microwave. Leave the flowers in the book to continue press drying for three days. Spray the dried flowers with floral glaze.

Tips & Warnings

• Store silica gel in a sealed container; it can be reused as often as you like.

• Never microwave metal; make sure that the book you select to press the flowers does not contain metal on the binding or anywhere else on the book.

References

• Florage: Drying Flowers

Resources

• North Dakota State University: Methods of Preserving Flowers