9 (23 cm) Max Microwave Flower Press Kit for Pressing Flowers and Making Pressed Flowers

I purchased this item purely for lack of alternative. My husband and I got married last weekend in a very small civil ceremony (thanks COVID), and the one thing we wanted to do well was saving the bouquet. We found someone on Etsy who could press it into art if we overnighted the flowers while they were fresh. Well, while the florist timed our flowers perfectly for the ceremony, by the next morning when I was going to ship them they were already starting to look tired; when I found out the overnight shipping was going to cost $120, I decided to just order a flower press and do my best. This was the only one amazon had for “delivery by 8am tomorrow.” I hadn’t pressed flowers since elementary school and was skeptical of a microwave method, but decided to give it a chance. I think that, for my skill level (aka, zero skill), this was an exceptional outcome. I was working primarily with very thick flowers (mostly roses, I think some marigold? Etc) and in a traditional press, I think they would have been lost to moisture before being fully pressed. Because the microwave dries the flowers out, there’s no opportunity for moisture damage. I assume you could burn the flowers, but I didn’t have any of mine burn. And, because it works in a matter of minutes, my slightly-wilting flowers actually came out as well as I would have expected for fresh flowers. I’m eager to try this with some fresher flowers and see how that goes, but in the meantime, I’ve attached some pictures. Remember that I have zero experience before this project, so things like folded petals are my own doing. A few quick tips: 1) The instructions encourage you to prep the panels before the first use (spray some water, microwave briefly); the way it’s worded it sounds like it means the first time you use it, but I did it before each day (I pressed across two days due to time constraints). I wonder if this is why I didn’t experience any burning. It only adds 30 seconds to the process, and I suspect it’s what they meant to recommend. 2) I found I could tell whether flowers were dry based on whether there was any moisture on the plastic panels when I opened them. I started with 20 seconds, opened, wiped down panels, let steam out, re-sealed, another 20 seconds, repeat. Eventually I worked down to 10 second bursts as things got close. When the flowers were dry, the panels would no longer have visible moisture when I opened them to wipe. I was repeatedly surprised when moisture kept coming out even though I thought they were done (or close to done)! 3) if you’re dealing with roses or similar, I personally found it best to deconstruct the flower. I did some large petals on their own, to go behind the flower once I arranged it; or I pulled out the center of the rose and pressed that alone on its side, or pressed the outer layers by themselves. I found that most of the thick flowers that I tried to press whole wouldn’t fall flat well, but deconstructed flowers looked whole once finished. This sort of advice is probably already out there if you’re familiar with flower pressing, but I thought I’d mention just in case!

There is definitely a learning curve to this product. People who have issues with items burning are probably using thicker, more wet flowers - in which case I have found shorter continual bursts to work. Ive also found that certain flowers press differently at different positions on the board. Items around the perimeter, and not directly under the vent holes do better. And items in the dead center tend to take much longer so ive begun to avoid that area altogether. Highly recommend though.

It works- you have to microwave it a couple times and figure out what works but the smell it gives off is fowl. I had to literally open the windows because it smelled so bad. I guess that’s what happens when you microwave flowers and the misrule out of them but I’m disappointed no one mentioned this to me before!!!

I hated the idea of paying for dried flowers. I also didn’t have the patience to try drying them myself-until I found this little thing. I followed the directions and only dried like flowers in a single batch. It is incredibly easy to use. It does take a different number of cycles based on the thickness of the flowers. I checked them after each 30sec cycle. Once you do it the first time you sorta figure out what to look for as to whether the flowers are sufficiently dried. I purchased the big 9” one and it turned easily in my microwave. Of course now I’m looking for different flowers to dry. Oh the color of the flowers do not fade. That was really exciting.

I was definitely an amateur at flower pressing when I bought this last year. It took some trial-and-error to get it right, but my pressed flowers look great. The color is very vibrant. Wish it came in a larger size (like 9x12). Heres my best advice: 1. Do at least 4+ rounds of heating, until your flower/leaf stays straight when you hold it out. It shouldnt be flacid. The thicker the specimen, the more rounds of heating you should do. 2. Between each round of heating, take out the microfleur, wipe away moisture on the insides of the shell and blot the wool pads, and let your flowers/leaves cool enough before you heat it again. 3. Flower buds and thicker flowers can overheat and burn a hole in the cloth liner and wool pads, and itll smell horrible. Make sure to let them cool between heating sessions.

I had never pressed flowers before and this microwave flowerpress made my flower pressing project pretty easy. My father recently passed away and I wanted to save some of the roses from his graveside service. Roses are a bit of a challenge since they are so thick so I read a lot of advice before beginning the project and I watched a couple of youtube videos. This one was my favorite: (...) Its short and very informative. If youre pressing a flower thats thick, like a rose, then I found the best thing to do is to basically take all the petals off and then reconstruct a thin rose in your fingertips with just a handful of petals. Also, follow the instructions and only microwave the specimens for short periods of time. For me, the flowers I used were important (from my dads graveside service) so I didnt want to risk the chance of burning them. I was probably way more conservative than necessary but I microwaved in really short bursts of 20-30 seconds. I also allowed the flowers to air out in between zaps and stretched the process out over a few days. I was really happy with the results and now just need to figure out what Im going to do with all the pretty pressed roses I made!

My husband is getting into drying leaves and flowers for his artwork. We saw this on a home decorating show used to make affordable art with on-sale frames. It sure beats waiting months for some flowers to dry! Plus, if you smash one wrong, youll see it in a few minutes and can most often collect another for drying. :) At first, he ended up charring some flowers and leaves because he heated them too long at one time in the microwave, like 1.5 minutes. Its better to do it in shorter increments, maybe 30 seconds, and keep checking them. Basically, follow the directions. Also, if you leave them a little damp after microwaving, thicker flowers may curl up slightly upon air drying, which may not be an entirely undesirable effect. We love this product!

I had a class project that required the pressing of lawn weeds. It took several weeks for the weeds to dry in a traditional flower press. Using my traditional flower press, somehow the weeds were moldy not dry, by the time I got back from vacation. The project (to have 10 weeds dry pressed) was due that Monday! So, i technically had a week to do this. What an emergency! I ordered the Microfleur thinking this would not work, but I had to try. I got the next day delivery. I got an A on my project :) Take duplicates of what you want to press and try it out. I did all lawn weeds and the only ones that did not meet my expectations were Purslane. Perhaps its because of the succulent like leaves which i recommend pressing the old fashion way until you become a master at this. I am not disappointed in this product. I am sure i will need it in the future.

This is my second press. Not because the first one broke... because I love it so much! It drys out the flowers and leaves so quickly and the flowers retain their colors!!! Now I can do double the amount of flowers. Just remember to spray down the linen sheets before each use. It keeps the wool pads moist and it keeps the flowers from burning. This is a great investment if you want pressed flowers in minutes instead of weeks with the traditional flower press. For the cons, (which isn’t really bad) the wool pads kind of have a funky odor when microwaving the flowers. Not the worst smell I’ve ever smelled though. Also, you have to wipe your microwave out after you press the flowers in there so you don’t get residue from the flower/herbs/ leaves on your food. Other than that, that’s really a great product.

Clean your microwave after use. It will leave a taste in food cooked in it afterwards.