How to Steam Silk Flowers

Faux florals make beautiful additions to weddings and event floral arrangements. You can easily use silk and artificial flowers as centerpieces, bridal bouquets, and as decorations at parties. One of our most asked questions is, “How do I steam my silk flowers” or “How do I get my flowers ready for my wedding?”

We recommend to steam flowers upon receiving them and you will how easily they will take the original shape. Most artificial flowers, or silk flowers, are made with a silk poly blend material or foam and making them come to life is so easy – you just need a little steam! For this you’ll need a steamer and clean filtered water. Any steamer is fine, we used a small clothing steamer in the video but you can also use your iron’s steam setting, just be careful not to burn yourself – steam is hot!

To use the steam method, gently roll the flower over the steam and you’ll see how the steam helps to open up the petals right away. For foam flowers, you can hold them in one place in front of the steam and the petals will open up but for silk flowers, you’ll need to move them. Guide the flowers so the steam helps to shape the flowers and petals, especially if you are steaming boutonnieres and corsages. For bouquets, the process is similar but you’ll want to spread the strands/stems out a bit before starting so petals have room to open up.

Another way to get the flowers to open up and look more life-like, is to use a hair dryer and clean water spray. You’ll want to move the stems of the bouquet and separate the flowers a bit then spray them with clean water. After that, simply use the blow dryer to help the flowers open up. Pro Tip – don’t use the highest setting, you’ll just blow the petals around and your bouquet will lose shape, instead use a low or medium setting and vary the distance from the bouquet. Because of the low setting, this method of “steaming” silk flower bouquets takes a while so be patient. It also will not work for foam or plastic flowers – we tried.

Let us know in the comments if you found this method helpful. We hope you had fun doing this process as much as we did! If you have questions, send us a message or follow @BalsaCircle on Instagram for more wedding tips and inspirations. Happy decorating and planning!