Can You Rehydrate Dried Flowers? A Simple Guide to Reviving Your Dried Blooms

Dried flowers are a gorgeous way to decorate your home with natural beauty that lasts. Their muted, faded colors and delicate textures create an ethereal, romantic vibe. However, over time dried flowers can become brittle, discolored, or lose their shape. This leads many people to wonder: can you rehydrate dried flowers to restore their beauty? The short answer is yes! With a simple trick or two, you can breathe new life into faded dried flowers.

Why Do Dried Flowers Lose Their Vibrancy?

To understand how to rehydrate dried flowers, it helps to know why they lose their beauty in the first place Dried flowers are very delicate and susceptible to their environment Factors like light, heat, dust, and humidity can all degrade dried flowers over time.

Specifically, light causes faded colors, heat makes flowers brittle, dust dulls vibrancy, and humidity draws moisture out of the blooms. The dried plant material simply dries out even further, causing the flowers to shrivel and wilt. Rehydrating them adds a small amount of moisture back into the blooms.

Can You Revive Dried Flowers by Adding Water?

While fresh cut flowers love water dried flowers and water do not mix well! Submerging dried flowers in water or placing them in a vase will quickly lead to mold mildew, and rot. The dried materials will become far too saturated with moisture.

Instead, you need to gently reintroduce a tiny bit of water to rehydrate the blooms. This revives them without making them overly wet. The goal is to add just enough moisture to make the flowers supple again.

Easy Ways to Rehydrate Dried Flowers

Luckily, reviving dried flowers is simple. Here are some easy DIY methods you can use at home:

Use a Mister

An easy way to rehydrate dried flowers is by using a spray bottle or mister. Fill it with clean water and mist the flowers lightly until you see improvement. Focus on the petals and avoid over-saturating the stems.

Mist dried flowers every few days until they regain their vibrancy. Be sure to gently blot any excess moisture with a paper towel so they don’t become too damp.

Try a Steamer

Exposing dried flowers to steam is an effective approach. The heat and moisture from the steam rehydrates flowers quickly. Hold your dried blooms above the steam for 20-30 seconds until revived.

You can suspend flowers above a pot of boiling water, use a handheld fabric steamer, or hold them in your bathroom while you shower. Be careful not to overdo it, as too much steam can make flowers limp.

Use the Bag Technique

Place your dried flowers in a paper bag or plastic bag. Mist the inside of the bag with water, then close it up tightly. The flowers will absorb the humidity trapped in the bag.

Check them after an hour or two and remoisten the bag as needed. This technique slowly rehydrates dried flowers without direct water contact.

Try Flower Reviving Spray

You can buy commercial flower reviving sprays made just for dried flowers. These products contain humectants which help draw moisture back into the blooms. Simply mist dried flowers with the spray as directed on the packaging.

Revive is a popular flower spray brand found at most craft stores. A few spritzes restores vibrancy and shape to faded dried flowers.

Use Glycerin and Water

For a DIY reviving spray, mix together 1 part glycerin and 2 parts water. Glycerin is a humectant that helps blooms absorb the water. Mist your dried flowers with this solution until supple.

You can also soak flowers for 1-2 hours in a diluted glycerin solution. Use 1 tablespoon glycerin per 1 cup of water. This works well for badly wilted flowers.

Tips for Caring for Rehydrated Flowers

Once you revive your dried flowers, be sure to care for them properly so they retain their newfound vibrancy. Here are some useful care tips:

• Keep flowers out of direct sunlight to prevent fading
• Dust gently with a brush to remove accumulated dirt
• Display flowers out of high humidity areas
• Mist sparingly with water or revive spray as needed
• Avoid direct contact with water by keeping in vases without water
• Carefully handle to prevent brittle petals from breaking

With some TLC, your refreshed dried flowers will stay gorgeous for weeks or months to come. Be sure to fluff and rearrange petals as needed.

Can You Rehydrate All Types of Dried Flowers?

Most dried flowers can be revived with water or steam when they lose their luster. However, some very delicate flowers may fall apart if they become too damp.

Flowers with sturdy, waxier petals like roses, carnations, and chrysanthemums rehydrate well. Delicate blooms like hydrangeas or baby’s breath may not hold up. Test a small area first before misting the entire flower.

Greenery like dried ferns and eucalyptus also respond well to light misting or steam. Just be very gentle with brittle leaves. Wire framed flowers are risky to rehydrate since the metal can rust.

Enjoy Preserved Flower Beauty

Don’t be so quick to toss out your faded dried flowers! With a little TLC, you can bring your dried bouquets and floral decor back to life. A quick steam, light mist, or soak in a revival spray restores supple, vibrant blooms.

Rehydrating dried flowers lets you enjoy their elegance and aroma for much longer. Take care to gently revive your flowers and keep them protected after rehydrating. With the right techniques, you can enjoy the timeless beauty of dried flowers for many years to come.