HOW TO: DRY BABY’S BREATH

OnVinyl, our compressive blog series for all things upcycling + repurposing

photo by @madelinebarrphoto | madelinebarr.com

Baby’s breath is officially trending and we all want to make our flower arrangements last longer! But did you know that drying your baby’s breath after their short life in a vase can make it usable for years to come? Let’s go sustainable!

Even after the fresh and airy effect of baby's breath from a newly assembled bouquet, once dried it can continue to add a wispy and elegant nature to floral arrangements and crafts. See our HOW TO guide below for all the details!

HOW TO

1 Hand strip the leaves from the stems of the baby's breath. Use a pair of gloves you need to protect your hands. Harvesting the plant in full bloom may help too, but that’s not required.

2 Place the newly, hand-stripped stems upright in a vase or container. Be sure the vase or container with no moisture or water in it.

3 Now, put the vase in a dry, cool room, out of any view of sunlight.

*HELPFUL TIP: A humid or moist room will cause the baby's breath to become soft and limp. Make sure the room is dry and lacking of any extra moisture. For example, a bathroom may not be the best place to dry the baby’s breath.

4 The baby's breath will now air-dry for a few days. At least until they turn into light tan-ish from their original white color.

5 For an alternative air-drying method, bind the baby’s breath stems a string, an elastic or a rubber band and then hang the bound stems upside down in a cool, dry room. Suspend them so they are not touching anything else. The flower stems must be hung in a room with air circulating around and through them.

*HELPFUL TIP: As drying gypsophila (baby’s breath) tends to create ethylene gas, your room must be well-ventilated. Both a saftey-tip and an anti-stinky tip!