A flower’s beauty shouldn’t end once you use it. If someone recently gifted you a bouquet for an event, you may want to think twice about throwing them away. Flowers can be dried and repurposed for different projects. Need a new centrepiece for your coffee table? How about a few dried flower stems for an arts and crafts project? Learning how to dry flowers opens the door to endless possibilities.

Drying flowers will keep their shape and prevent them from wilting. You may be familiar with one of the easiest methods of drying flowers — hanging them indoors. While effective, the hang-dry technique takes too much time. If you don’t want to wait several weeks to start using dried flowers, there are faster alternatives you can try.

Drying Flowers In A Microwave

Making dried flowers by heating them in a microwave takes less than 5 minutes. The best part is you’ll be using readily-available materials at your disposal. You’ll need the following materials:

• Fully-functioning microwave
• Flowers 
• Paper towel
• Microwave-safe weights (plastic containers or ceramics)

1. Start by choosing a flower or a bouquet you want to dry. You can pick flowers like daisies, peonies, hydrangeas, or even sunflowers.
2. Cut the stems off the flowers so that only the bud or the petals remain. 
3. Tear off one or two 4-ply paper towels, then lay them flat on the microwave plate. 
4. Place individual flower petals on the paper. Position the flowers about 1 inch away from each other so that they’re not touching.

Put another layer of paper towel on the flowers, then lay something heavy on them. The best choice would be microwave-safe plastic ware with leftover food inside it. If you can’t find leftovers in your fridge, you can also use microwave-safe ceramic dishes as weights.

Set the timer to 2 to 5 minutes and heat the flowers at a medium setting. Once done, check to see if the flowers are dry, crispy, and colourful. Add 30 seconds more to the timer to achieve the desired effect. 

Drying Flowers In An Oven

Another technique is the oven-drying method, which takes about 12 hours to complete. Oven-dried flowers are ideal for different arts and crafts projects. You can use them for decorating cakes, adding flair to gift wrappers, or even soap-making. 

1. Start by preheating the oven for 15 minutes at 18℃.
2. While the oven heats up, cut all the stems by removing them from the base of their buds.
3. On a wax paper or baking sheet, lay the flowers at a distance from one another. Place the tray inside the oven for 2 hours and inspect them every 40 minutes or whenever necessary.
4. Ensure that the flowers don’t sit too long inside the oven. Doing this can cause the petals to become brittle to the touch. 
5. Once the flowers have dried, take them out of the oven and place them somewhere to cool down at room temperature.

*Note: If you’re heating different flower varieties all at once, check each type as they’re heating. Some flowers tend to dry faster than others, while some may need more time. 

Drying Flowers In A Car

You can also use a car to dry your flowers if you own one. Drying flowers in a car may be unconventional, but it does get the job done in hot climates. 

• Dashboard - Start car-drying the flowers in the morning. For this method, make sure you park the car in an area under direct sunlight. Line the dashboard with sheets of baking or parchment paper. Set your flowers (with or without stems) on the paper, an inch apart from each other. Wait for 3-5 hours and remove the newly-dried flowers.
• Trunk - If your dashboard is too clunky, you may opt to dry the flowers in the trunk instead. Start by wrapping around the flowers in parchment paper. Tie the bundle loosely with a string. If done in the morning, the dried flowers should be ready in the afternoon. 

Conclusion

Want to learn how to dry flowers more quickly without using complicated materials? The different techniques listed in this guide should help. If you don’t want to throw away your flowers yet, dry them out and make them usable for other projects or home decors.

Windflower Florist offers a variety of blooms for different occasions. You can dry our flowers and use them in gifts, decors, or scrapbooks! Register and shop now! We offer free island-wide delivery in select locations, bonus rewards, and other benefits!

Making dried flowers is a great way to preserve their beauty. For fresh flowers that can be dried, consider Windflower Florist for your flower delivery in Singapore and enjoy our free island-wide delivery in select locations, bonus rewards and other benefits!

Frequently Asked Questions About Dried Flowers

Why Is Parchment Paper Used To Dry Flowers?

Parchment paper helps absorb excess moisture from the flowers while they dry up. You may use coffee filters instead, if there aren’t any parchment papers available. 

How Long Will It Take For Flowers To Completely Dry?

Following the hanging method, your flowers will take 3 weeks to dry. But if you dry them using an oven, microwave, or even a car, you can cut down this time to several hours or even minutes. 

How Do You Dry Flowers Without Heat?

You can dry flowers without heat by pressing them on a book. Arrange the flowers on wax or parchment paper. Close the book and place weights on top of it to add pressure. Leave it this way for three weeks and check if the flowers have thoroughly dried.

How Long Do Dried Flowers Last?

Fresh flowers are suitable for only several days once cut. Meanwhile, dried flowers are longer-lasting. They can retain their quality for over 12 months.