How to Preserve a Rose? DIY Style!
Are you looking to preserve a rose or a bunch of roses that a special someone gave you? Below, we will show you different ways to help you preserve and extend the life of a rose, DIY style. Using these methods, you can preserve a rose for several weeks or even months, well beyond the usual one week natural lifespan.
If you are looking for professionally and organically preserved roses that last for not just months or weeks but years, check out the many Forever or Everlasting Roses here at Luxerosa. All of our Infinity rose arrangements are preserved with a multi-step organic process that will allow our beautiful and pristine real Ecuadorian roses to last for years. Luxerosa roses don’t need any watering either. In fact, the only care they require is that you keep them in the box that they come in. Also, keep them away from direct sunlight or heat sources. That’s how easy maintenance is!
Now, coming back to preserving roses, DIY style, let’s take a look at the options you have.
How to Preserve a Rose?
Preserving a Rose with a Resin Pour
Preserving a rose with resin will give you the most aesthetically appealing result. But, it is a slightly technical process that will need to be carried out rather carefully.
Also, working with resin requires you to know of some safety procedures. Resin is not sold in an active state. You will usually get Resin in two parts, often labelled as A and B. These two parts have to be mixed in equal proportion to make resin. You must use gloves when working with resin. It is also recommended that you wear a respirator when working with resin as it is can give off fumes if mixed too quickly. It can also get hot when freshly mixed and poured.
What you will need?
You will need resin. You will need a silicon ice cube mould that is large enough to house your rose flower. A heat gun.
How to preserve a rose with resin?
Begin my mixing resin parts A and B into a plastic container. Then, use a wooden spoon or an ice cream bar stick to gently and thoroughly mix the two resin parts together. Gently pour this resin into the silicon ice cube mould. Pour only to about 1/3rds of the way up. Then, use a heat gun to slowly work away all bubbles that form on the surface. Allow the resin to cool off. Now, add your rose flower, bloom up. Then, very slowly, cover the flower with a second application of freshly mixed resin, careful not to let it get too hot. Again, allow to cool before adding the third and final layer of resin to top off your ice cube. You must use the heat gun during every stage of resin filling, to eliminate air bubbles.
When your final pour has cooled off, you can slowly wriggle the cooled resin block out of the ice cube mould, revealing a stunning rose that looks like it is suspended in air, in a clear resin cube. This is a fantastic way to preserve a rose and make it a keepsake that will last for years!
Drying Roses
Drying is a very popular way to extend the life of not just roses, but most other flowers as well. But, please know that drying only works with very fresh roses. How fresh? We are talking about roses picked this morning or yesterday at best! If your roses have even a little bit of decay, drying will give you very subpar results. If your roses are still pristine, there are a few ways you can dry them, to preserve them.
Air Drying Roses
To air dry roses, you just need to hang your roses, bloom side down. Air dry them indoors in a place that is warm, with low humidity and where it is also mostly dark. By simply doing this, your roses will air dry in a matter of just 3-4 weeks. Once your roses have fully dried, all you need to do is take them down from your hang-line and vase them. A touch of hairspray will provide an extra layer of protection that will extend the life of these preserved roses some more. Just make sure you choose a hairspray without any odour.
Please note that it is important to hang your roses upside down when drying. This will not allow gravity to take a toll on your roses, as they dry.
Microwaving Roses!
Yes, you read that right. You can preserve your roses by microwaving them. But, you need to very careful with this method as you can easily overdo the microwaving to ruin your roses. First, trim your rose stems so they can fit in the microwave. Then, place them on the turntable, over wax paper.
Use the lowest setting on your microwave and microwave it for 30-45 seconds a time, keeping a very close eye on how your roses dry. Patience and caution is key here. Drop down the inspection intervals as the time in the microwave progresses. You will easily know when the rose buds have dried out. It’s always better to take them out earlier than later. A little air drying can then safely complete the rest of the preservation process.
Drying Roses with Desiccant
Desiccants absorb moisture. So, it is no surprise that they can be used to preserve roses, by removing all moisture that will otherwise eventually make roses rot. Silica gel, available in crystal form, is the most widely used desiccant and it is easily available in online stores like Amazon UK.
To preserve your rose with Silica gel, all you need to do it place your rose in a container that has an airtight lid. Begin by filling your container with silica crystal to about 1/5th of the way. You can then place your roses bloom down and then gently fill the rest of the container with silica gel. It is very important that you cover the entire container with silica gel. Then, secure the airtight lid. In a matter of days to a maximum of about 2 weeks, you will have a beautifully preserved rose.
Take care to slowly remove the silica gel when the desiccant drying process is complete.
Many DIY’ers have said that placing desiccant covered roses in the microwave can dramatically speed up the drying process. We haven’t tried this ourselves but it could be worth a try. Just make sure that the container you use is microwave safe!
The downside to silica gel or desiccant drying is that you will need quite a bit of silica gel for larger rose arrangements like a bouquet. Think 3-4 kg for a large bouquet, and also a very large container!
Dry Pressing Roses with a Book
This is a very simple method where you basically place a rose on a page in a book. Before doing that, line up both the pages with wax paper, to better protect both your rose and your book’s pages. Then, simply close the book and place a heavy object on the book. In about a month, you will have a beautifully dried rose. Though this method will obviously not allow you to preserve the shape of a rose, it is very good for preserving the colour and essence of your rose.