How long do pressed flowers maintain their natural color?

Dear Anna,

I have been working with pressed flowers for a little bit now, and I'm wondering how long my flowers have before they will start to lose their natural color? Is there any way I can prevent this from happening? Or is it just part of nature taking its course? If so, what can I do about it, especially if I'm providing products for my customers?!

Thanks so much,

Stacy L

Dear Stacy,

For the most part pressed flowers are able to maintain their natural color for a very long time, but eventually some amount of fading is inevitable (typically after 5-7 years on average). Some may begin to show fading sooner, while others may last longer. But even when fading does occur it is usually minor -- I've never seen a flower completely lose its color (or even come close to that). From my experience I've found that red and yellow flowers normally have a longer expectancy as far as maintaining their original color. Greenery and leaves on the other hand tend to begin showing signs of fading earlier.

One way to help preserve a pressed flower's color is to dye it. A simple way to dye a flower is to buy acrylic color from a local craft store (e.g., Michael's) and lightly brush the coloring on the flower you wish to dye. You can also choose to buy pressed flowers that have been pre-dyed with a high quality floral dye (or if you are pressing your own flowers you can apply the floral dye yourself before pressing the flowers). Dyed flowers are able to maintain their color for the longest time. In fact, so long that I have yet to see a dyed flower show any discoloration.

Also it is important to always make sure you use flowers that have been dried and pressed correctly. A properly pressed flower should last years without any problems.

So what's the verdict? I wouldn't worry too much about the fading. Just try to keep the flowers away from excessive sunlight/humidity and use dyed flowers when you need to make sure the colors last, and you should have beautiful flowers that will stay vibrant for years and years to come.

Keep on pressing those flowers -- your customers will love them!

Anna

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