How to press flowers/ botanical finds from the field;
What you will need;
your field press (supplied)
tweezers (supplied)
RE-USEABLE blotting paper… allow to dry out completely between pressings (supplied)
any other type of ‘scrap’ paper… printing paper is perfect ( can also be reused after drying out)
somewhere to store your flowers when they are ready to come out of the press
TIP: Once you have the specimens you want to press you need to press them as soon as you can, otherwise they will simply wilt and die.
TIP: In order not to damage any of your delicate treasures, it is best to handle them with a tweezer, both before and after you have pressed them.
1. Open your press. Yep, those bolts are a bit fiddly and time consuming, but its part of the slow process of this art. Take a deep breath and enjoy every moment of it. Lay the wing nuts, washers and top section of our press to one side.
2. Place a wadge (a few pieces) of your ‘scrap’ paper down on the bottom section, in between the 4 bolts that are sticking up from each corner.
3. Place one layer of blotting paper down (easily distinguishable because of the rounded corners).
4. Carefully place your specimens on top of the blotting paper.
TIP: lay your flowers face down.. that way you have more control over how the petals and leaves are positioned on the paper… you can carefully manoeuvre them with your tweezers, making sure they are as ‘neat’ on the paper as possible.
5. Take another sheet of blotting paper and lay it on top of the flower/ s you have laid out.
6. Take another wadge of scrap paper and lay it on top of the second layer of blotting paper.
7. Repeat steps 3 – 6 until you have no more flowers to press, or your blotting paper is used up… there should be enough blotting paper for 10 layers of pressing. This should also give you a good indication of how much ‘scrap’ paper to use in between layers.
8. Take the top section of your press, and lining the holes up with the bolts, lower it on to your pile of paper and flowers.
9. Take the 4 washers and wing nuts and replace them on to the bolts, winding them down as far they will go. When they will go no further without too much force, leave them. When you check them half an hour or so later, you should be able to tighten them a bit more.
10. This step is by far the most important one of all of them. After your flowers have been in the press for 24 hours or so, change the papers. Do this by undoing your press and unstacking everything, keeping the flowers safely in between the layers of blotting paper. Put all the scrap paper to one side to dry and take fresh scrap paper, and layer up as before. This will ensure that as much moisture as possible is drawn away from the specimens… increasing the chance of colour retention, and decreasing the likelihood of mould.
11. Depending on the type of flower or plant that you are pressing, your specimens could take anything from 2-6 weeks to be ready. Unless you are pushed for time, I would recommend not checking until the 3 week mark.
TIP: you should know that you flowers are ready to come out of the press if they are completely dry. If they are not completely dry they may be slighly cold or damp to touch. If they are, just pop them back in the press for another week or so. otherwise, you will see moulding eventually occur.