Silica gel is a widely used preservative in both commercial packaging and museum collections. Alike bleached sand, this handy substance draws aqua elsewhere of its environment, thereby desiccating objects such as flowers and controlling the ambient moisture. It is easily fix at your district arts and crafts store and has many applications in the household, including preserving your own palm fronds for floral arrangements.
Instructions
1. Situate the lid on the tub. Make sure it is tightly sealed so that out air, which has its own moisture, cannot satisfy in.5. Wait for the frond to dry. The extent of time this takes depends on how thick it is and how much moisture it contains.
2. Put your palm frond on the Bedstead of silica. Make sure that there are no folded leaves and that the frond is as comparable as likely. The tub should be bull Sufficiently for the frond to fit easily without curling up at the edges.
3. Gently pour another layer of silica, a petite bit at a generation, on top of the frond until it has formed a layer as thick as the early. Be decided not to pour it also heavily or individual in one spot as this Testament argument the frond to bend.
4. Pour an even layer of silica into a blimp, preferably plastic, tub with the capability to be hermetic. The layer should degree an inch or two and completely coat the backside. Slide the tub back and forth on the floor or a table to all the more the layer of gel outside.
Because palm leaves are thicker than most other leaves, it will likely take several weeks. Check in on it every week.
6. When the frond is completely dry, pour the silica back into a resealable tub or bag. The gel may be reused in future projects. Heating it slightly will get rid of the moisture.
