How to clean your artificial flowers
Whenever you send flowers to loved ones or order flowers for yourself, you usually opt for fresh flower arrangements. That said, artificial flowers are also really popular, especially when it comes to floral displays that you intend on showing off once a year around the holidays. One main point that can cause people to be reluctant when it comes to silk flowers is the fact that they tend to gather dust. Even if you store them properly when not in use, when on display they will collect dust. The good news is that there are some easy ways of cleaning artificial flowers so they will look that much better for longer!
There are a number of easy ways of cleaning silk flowers but it's important to note that they aren't always as effective as some other, more complex methods. One way of cleaning these flowers is by using a feather duster. The only problem with this is that you will really only clean the surface and you can't get into all the grooves and folds. You are also essentially lifting the dust into the air which means that it will eventually resettle throughout the room and back on the flowers. You could also use your hairdryer on its coldest setting to blow the dust off your flowers. Again, you are spreading the dust everywere so it will only settle again after a few minutes and hours. Alternative, you could slip a stocking over the end of your vacuum and set I on a low setting before sucking the dust off the flowers. This is better than the hairdryer and feather duster method because you're collecting the dust. If you aren't careful, however, you could damage the flowers by mistake. Another option is to wipe each flower with a damp cloth. This is great for collecting all that dust with care but it will prove time-consuming.
More expensive options
You can find a number of silk flower cleaning sprays on the market and they offer a fast solution. That said, they are quite expensive and probably only worthwhile if you have a large number of flowers to clean in a hurry. Remember, this spray is highly effective but it might miss dust in those grooves. Compressed air is somewhat like hairdryer cleanng but it packs more of a punch. You can target specific areas but you should take care because these bursts of air is really strong and you need to hold your flowers properly to prevent them from getting damaged.
Effective and reasonably priced options
If you are looking for effective methods that won't leave you broke, then these options are for you. Place flowers in a bag with half a cup of salt or cornmeal, close, and shake it around gently for a few minutes. Check on your flower and repeat if necessary. Remember you will need to do this with each flower on an individual basis. Alternatively, you can fill a spray bottle with a a mixture of equaly parts of water and white vinegar. Place your flowers on newspaper to catch any excess spray. Spray your flowers all over to get rid of dust. Just make sure that you test a small amount of this mixture on each type of flower to check for colour running before you spray the whole bouquet. If you're happy to opt for a wet cleaning method, you can mix dishwashing liquid with some water. Place one stem under this water at a time and move it around to get the water in all those smaller spaces. If you see any grime, rub these areas gently. Once clean, remove the flower from the water and blot dry with a towel or soft cloth. This method takes a fair amount of time but it yields the very best results. If you have particularly large arrangements that cannot be taken apart, consider filling a large bucket or your bath and let your flowers really soak to get rid of dust and dirt.
By keeping your silk flowers clean, you will get that much more use out of them which makes it even more cost effective to opt for these kinds of long-lasting arrangements.
