Eternal Flowers
When thinking of eternal or preserved flowers, most people envision roses treated with an alcohol mixture and dyed with pigments. However, there is a new process called freeze-drying that can preserve both the natural colors and three-dimensional structure of flowers.
01
What is Freeze Drying
Freeze drying is a low temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, thereby removing the ice by sublimation, in contrast to dehydration by most conventional methods that evaporate water using heat.
02
Candy and Flowers
Candy can pop during freeze drying process, so is flower. One of the important steps in freeze frying is lowering pressure to get rid of water molecule. As a result some flowers may pop like popcorn, which may or may not be the desired outcome.
03
Light and Flower
UV light can help fresh flower to grow, but also causes the color in dried flowers to fade. Keep the dried flower away from direct sun light and other UV sources
04
Moisture and Flowers
Freeze drying removes the moisture from flowers while maintaining their cellular structure intact. However the collapse and drooping usually would occur when dried flowers absorb moisture again. Keep dried flowers away from high moisture condition.
05
Pass or Fail?
Not all sorts of flowers are suitable for freeze drying. Some of them, such as tulip and chrysanthemum, will pop under low pressure. Some of them gets darker color after drying. Choose wisely when performing the freeze drying process.
06
Shipping and Handling
After drying the flower petals become very fragile and brittle. Handle them very carefully.
Not all dried flowers can be shipped. Local pickup option is always preferred. If they break during shipping, glue can be used to fix them back together.
07
Use of Glues
School glue - good appearance, but takes long time to cure (>5 hours). Only good for rough surface.
Silicone glue - Good for smooth surface. medium curing time.
Super glue - Fast cure, have to press to cure. Not good for gaps.
Hot glue - Good for gaps, fast cure. Not good for smooth surface and metal.