How to Dry Flowers The Best Way
I recently experienced a miscarriage and wanted to preserve the beautiful flowers people had given me as gifts. I planned to place them in a shadowbox as a memory of our little baby. Since time was limited, I didn’t have the luxury to experiment on my gifted flowers to figure out how to dry flowers in the best way, so I decided to try two different methods: the hanging upside down method and the silica gel method.
After trying both, I found that drying flowers with silica gel was the most reliable way to preserve their color and shape.
Now, let’s compare the two methods and why I believe silica gel is the best at-home way to dry flowers.
Silica Gel Method
After some research, I chose to use Activa’s Flower Drying Art Silica Gel. I bought a 4lb bag, but definitely should’ve bought two bags to store in a bigger container so I could have more layers and preserve more flowers via this method.
Pro’s
- Color remained mostly the same
- 2-7 day drying time depending on the flower type
- No shriveled petals
- If gel is placed carefully around the flower, the flower will keep it’s original shape
- The gel can be reused multiple times
Con’s
- Cannot have a long stem unless you place it in a container where it fits
- Gels can deform the flower if you don’t pour it on carefully
- Costs money –a 4lb bag was $20 on Amazon
Upside Down Method
For flowers with longer stems, like roses and tulips, I decided to try the upside down drying method.
Pro’s
- Maintained color fairly well (though not as vibrant as silica gel)
- Easier to handle for crafts or tying together after dried
- Free
Con’s
- Flowers lost shape & shrivled
- Tulips and other flowers did not dry well at all. This really only worked for a couple of flower types. Roses turned out the best.
- Sun can remove some of the color, so hang dry them in a dark area
Looking at the images below, you can see the two comparisons of a flower being dried upside down vs the same type of flower being dried in the silica gel.
If you’d like tips on what helped me with my silica gel drying method, feel free to read my blog post here for a beginner step by step guide on how to get the best result from your first time using silica gel.
Have fun drying flowers!
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