Flower pressing is an incredible way to preserve the season’s flowers, so you can admire their beauty at any time of year. The preservation process usually takes at least a few weeks, but today, there are also microwave professional flower presses that work exponentially faster.
This can help you to expand and refine your artwork.
If you’re one of the many looking to perfect their flower pressing process with a professional flower press, make sure you know what to look for.
Learn more below!
Our Recommended Flower Presses
Microwave Press
- EFFORTLESSLY PRESS FLOWERS WITH MICROFLEUR MAX KIT: Designed for precision, it features washable cloth and absorbent wool felt for quick moisture control. Ideal for crafting and preserving blooms.
- COMPATIBLE WITH MOST MICROWAVE OVENS: Designed to work with most microwaves, making flower pressing simple and versatile. Easy to assemble and use, it ensures vibrant, detailed blooms every time.
- THE MICROFLEUR MAX FLOWER PRESS KIT IS DESIGNED FOR REPEATED USE: With washable cloths and durable wool felt, it reduces waste and provides reliable performance for your flower pressing projects.
Editors Choice
- COST-EFFECTIVE PACKAGE — Containing drying plates, absorbent papers, art knife, hammer-shears, tweezers and an instruction, all tools for pressing and drying plants are included. (Color of tweezers and scissors are random.)
- HIGH QUALITY MATERIALS — This drying board is made of environmentally friendly hardwood, exquisitely crafted, and durable. Thickened absorbent paper can accelerate the absorption of moisture in fresh flowers. Good color retention and drying speed make making dried flowers more convenient and beautiful.
- UNLIMITED CREATIVE SPACE — This flower press kit has a total of 6 layers, and you can create unique designs based on your own ideas and inspiration, creating unique artworks. It can also cultivate creativity and aesthetics.
Traditional Style Press
- Contents: flower press with power screws.
- Material: birch plywood.
- Size: 300 x 300 x 9 mm
- Accessories: 4 cardboard inserts in the size 245 x 245 mm.
- Can be created: if desired, the press can be printed with any motif.
How Do You Find the Best Professional Flower Press?
How Fast Does it Work?
When it comes to flower pressing, is time a factor? A microwave professional flower press may be your answer. In just minutes, this will allow you to dry as many flowers as you have picked. This creates limitless possibilities for artwork.
On the other hand, if you’d like to go about it more naturally, even if it could take a few weeks, then the traditional press or book method might be what you prefer.
How Does it Work?
As with any artistic medium, some like to do flower pressing one way, others another. When you’re looking for a flower press, consider whether you will be comfortable using an innovative microwave professional flower press, or if you’re leaning toward something more natural, like a traditional press or even a book.
What’s Its Capacity?
How many flowers can you fit in the press at once? With a microwave professional flower press, this might not matter as much, because you can make one batch quickly after another.
With a traditional professional flower press, you’ll have to wait at least a week or two for results, so you’ll want to press as many at a time as possible. This means the bigger the flower press, the better!
Is it Easy to Clean?
How difficult is the press to clean? Keep an eye out for any mentions of this in reviews. Microwave professional flower presses should be easy to clean, in particular. They should not stick.
Who Can Use It? (Age Range)
Flower pressing is primarily a hobby among adults, but anyone can take up the form of artwork. Of course, children will need to be taught how to use a traditional professional flower press or a microwave professional flower press properly, or they won’t have much luck.
If you intend to share this hobby with your children, make sure to teach them what flowers to gather, how to prepare them, how to arrange them, how to apply the paper, etc.
If a microwave professional flower press is heated for too long, the flowers inside can burn up. So, make sure your kids know just how long to do it for!
What Other Supplies Do You Need?
To press flowers, you’ll need a professional flower presser (whether traditional or microwave) or a book.
Along with this, you’ll need some parchment paper. This is naturally absorbent and will help the flowers to dry out. Last but not least, you’ll need the flowers of your choice, and a knife to cut any that need it in half.
How Do You Press Flowers?
Before you can start pressing flowers, you’ll need some suitable blossoms. The best are those that are naturally somewhat flat, to begin with; that is, pansies, cosmos, delphinium, etc. These are single-layer flowers. Flowers with multiple layers are more difficult to work with, such as peonies, and lilies. In order to flatten these types of flowers, it’s often necessary to cut them in half.
No matter what you pick, try to do it when it’s nice and dry out, so the flowers are free of rain or dew!
Now, you can move onto one of three methods, as below:
Microwave Professional Flower Press Method
The microwave flower professional flower press is a modern invention, created to make the process faster than ever (it takes just a minute). These are typically made of microwave-safe plastic, perforated to release moisture and air.
While the above two methods involve weeks of waiting, a microwave professional flower press will dry and flatten your flowers in just minutes. It’s an incredible time-saver!
How Do You Use a Microwave Professional Flower Press?
- Open the microwave professional flower press. Most of these simply have clamps to either side that you can unlatch.
- Line the press with paper. Some presses come pre-lined with a fabric-like material, others call for paper (or paper towels, if you don’t mind the imprint they can leave behind).
- Lay your flowers out. Make sure that the petals don’t touch, or they can fuse together. Also, make sure to cut any stems that are sticking out (they can burn).
- Put the press in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute and a half. All microwaves vary a bit, so you will need to watch the flowers the first time you use the press. Follow the instructions on the packaging closely, and check on the flowers every 10-20 seconds or so. You can tell they’re dry when they’re no longer soft or sticky. It will probably take roughly the same amount of time in the future, so keep track!
- When heated for just the right amount of time, your microwave professional flower press will produce beautifully flat, dry flowers (and all in roughly a minute).
Book Method
The book method has been used for pressing flowers since the beginning of the art. All that you need are the flowers of your choice, some parchment paper, and a nice, heavy book.
How Do You Press Flowers With a Book?
- Arrange your flowers on the paper. Many opt for parchment paper.
- Cover the flower-paper with another piece of paper. The most absorbent is parchment paper.
- Close the flowers in a heavy book. You can also stack more books on top to help the pressing process go faster.
- Wait a week, then open the book and check. Sometimes flower pressing takes a couple of weeks or as much as a month, depending on the humidity where you live and other factors. So, every few days to a week, feel free to take a peek!
Traditional Professional Flower Press Method
The traditional professional flower press method involves an old-fashioned wooden flower press. It takes quite a bit longer than your modern professional flower press, but it does the trick!
How Do You Use a Traditional Professional Flower Press?
- Take the top of the press off. With most, you simply unscrew the corners and lift.
- Line the press with paper. For its durability and absorbency, most opt for parchment paper.
- Place the flowers on the paper. Carefully arrange the flowers, both for artistic effect, and so that they aren’t touching each other (unless you don’t mind your flowers getting stuck together).
- Wait for 3-4 weeks. After a few weeks to a month, your pressed flowers should be completely dry, and pressed flat as paper!
Final Thoughts
Turning any hobby into a business or career needs the correct equipment to ensure you have a good return on the time and money invested into your trade.
Having a good quality flower press professional flower press will speed the whole process up for you and in return make you more profits.
The initial outlay cost of the flower press will be small in comparison with the investment return over the years to come. You can always check out and join the Pressed Flower Guild for more information.
