microwave dry flower method?

my boyfriends stepmom makes some real gorgouse dried flower pictures and im afriad to ask her how she does it. but i know she does something with the microwave . . . anyone know what this is all about?

 

I remember seeing an infomercial a long time ago for this stuff that looked like kitty litter, and you would cover the flowers with it and put it in the microwave and it would preserve them perfectly, like they were still alive. I can't remember what it was called, though. Is it something like that?

 

uummmmmmm . . . i dont think so

but then again i dont know how she does it
kitty litter huh? woa.

 

It wasn't actually kitty litter. It just had that same look and texture.... I was like 10 when I saw the infomercial... it's hard to recall. Susan Lucci did a plug for it, though. I remember that, because we have the same birthday.

 

I got a microwave-flower-drying kit for my birthday, it's fairly easy to use. You can probably find it at a craft store or something....

 

I've heard the microwave method works really well but have never tried it. i'm sure if you did a basic search on google or about.com or something you'd find directions. i myself have no microwave and stick to the flower press method, then save the flowers in wax envelopes. I wonder if using the microwave preserves the vibrancy of the colors any better than pressing? I hate drying a particular flower specifically for its fantastic color and then getting a ruddier faded version. They're still nice, but it would also be nice to capture the original hue. if you try it out, keep us posted, i love dried and pressed flower crafts and might have to invest in a microwave!

 

Hey, how do you dry out flowers normally? Do you just leave them in the sun?
Does it work for leaves too, cause I've got a plant with some cool leaves I wanna dry.

 

I always just stuck them in a book.... but I guess that's not quite the same....

 

MICROWAVE DRYING

Flowers with thick petals, such as magnolia and hyacinth, do not dry well in a microwave. For microwave drying, select flowers just before they are fully opened. Fully opened flowers will often lose their petals after microwave drying. Foliage dries exceptionally well in a microwave oven.

During drying, the flowers must be supported so that they dry in their normal form. A borax/sand mixture or kitty litter will do, but silica gel works best. Cover the flower(s) as described above under desiccants. Use a setting of 4 (that’s about 300 watts) if the microwave oven has about 10 settings. If the microwave oven has a defrost setting, use that (about 200 watts). It takes about two and a half minutes to dry flowers in a half-pound of silica gel.

The best way to determine the length of time required is to employ a microwavable thermometer, which contains no metal. Place the thermometer into the silica gel about a half-inch from the covered plant material. Make sure that you can read the thermometer from outside the oven. When the temperature of the silica gel reaches about 160º F, it is done! You do not have to be concerned about the strength of the oven (its setting) or the length of time to have it on. Actually, some flowers need to be heated to 170 ºF, others to only 150 ºF, but these are exceptions. For most, it is 160 ºF.

When the container of dried flowers or foliage is removed from the microwave oven, place a lid (slightly cracked) on it, and allow it to sit for about 24 hours before carefully uncovering the flowers.

In alphabetical order, the following are just a few of the flowers that can be dried successfully in a microwave: African daisy (Gerbera), African marigold, astilbe, buttercup, chrysanthemum, cosmos, daffodil, daylily, delphinium, foxglove, goldenrod, hollyhock, hydrangea, larkspur, lilac, pansy, rose, sedum, tulip, witch hazel and zinnia.

(it has kitty litter and a microwave!)