How to dry leaves quickly and have them still look good.?

Question

I am doing a leaf collection for my school and its due tommorow, I have to do good or I will fail the class, so I need help drying the leaves and quickly and still look good.

Could I do it on the oven?

Answer 1

You'd have to weight the leaves so they wouldn't curl, but it would be possible.

You could also try ironing them between pieces of plain paper with an iron on a low setting.

Microwaving them is also possible, but there's a higher risk of them catching on fire:  http://gardening.about.com/od/craftsandd...  Again, these should be slightly weighted so the edged don't curl.

Answer 2

You can try following procedure:

Put 3-5 leaves ( number depends on size ) between 2 paper towels into a microwave, dry them with medium power 30-60 sec.; time depends on quality of leaves, thick, leathery ones need longer. It`s better to dry them twice instead of burning.

As soon as the leaves stop to be flexible, place them between some sheets of blotting paper and iron them very gently and warmish only ( about 50-60°C ) till they are completely dried.

If you are really careful and handy the leaves should look like properly pressed.

Additional you can iron them between two sheets of wax paper; Place a dish towel over the wax paper and press with the iron (on medium heat). Press on each side for approximately 3-4 minutes. Remove leaves from wax paper as long as warm and place them on an aluminium foil till cooled down. They will have a fine coating of wax which preserves them and gives a silky luster.