How to Dry Rose Petals Quick, Easy and Without any Tools

I’ve been drying rose petals all wrong!  I had a friend turn me on to this method over the weekend and I was blown away.  If you want to know how to dry rose petals in less than 2 minutes, stick around! 

Last summer I wrote a blog post about the best ways to dry all your summer flowers.  I found all kinds of great ways to dry whole flowers, but all the methods I tested didn’t do great with single flower petals.  WAY too messy! 

This petal drying method is not at all messy or difficult and that’s a win-win! 

The quick cheat method for drying rose petals 

So the trick is the microwave.  

I tried the microwave method when I was testing the best methods for drying whole flowers.  The silica gel method in the microwave was by far the best way to dry flowers but it wasn’t great for single petals.    I never even thought about trying to dry the single petals without the silica gel, turns out that’s the trick. 

It does take a bit of time to separate your rose petals, and if you need a lot of rose petals it will take several batches to get it done, but honestly, it’s so easy to do that none of that matters.  It all goes so quickly that you could have a huge pile of dried rose petals in a very short period of time. 

The paper towel and microwave method is incredibly effective.  It makes perfectly dried rose petals in 2 minutes flat.  They are dry, stiff, but not crumbly.  You can crumble them, but they don’t just shatter when you touch them.  This makes the dried petals perfect for projects like potpourri.   

What are the best types of roses to use for drying petals?

Type of roses doesn’t matter. You can use flowers you purchased or flowers from your summer garden.  The one thing that you do need to have is fresh flowers. 

If your flowers are wilted, or starting to brown they will dry, but they will not be vibrant or pretty. 

Best to start with fresh flowers. 

Some tutorials will tell you to use flowers that are freshly opened, but that is not necessary at all.  I used flower buds, and simply twisted off the base and picked the petals away. 

So use your favorite roses, any colour, any kind!

Tools and materials required

• Roses
• Plate
• Paper towel
• Microwave

It doesn’t get any easier than this! 

Step 1 – How to dry rose petals in the microwave 

Separate your petals and place them on a piece of paper towel on a microwave-safe plate.

Keep only the petals that are fresh looking, no wilted ends, or brown dry bits. 

Make sure when placing your rose petals onto the paper towel that the petals do not at all overlap.  If they do overlap they may stick to one another. 

Step 2

Place the plate into a microwave and set the timer for 2 minutes.   

Microwaves vary greatly in wattage so I am going to tell you to watch that first batch closely to make sure 2 minutes is not too much time.  Since I have no way of knowing the power of your microwave, 2 minutes may be too little or too much so gauge that first batch by watching it closely. 

After the two minutes check to see if the rose petals are dry.  If you started out with really fresh, or dew covered roses you may need to add an additional 30 seconds.  I found for my rose petals were perfectly dry at the two-minute mark.

Be careful with the plate it will be hot. 

Step 3

Set up a small drying area for your petals.  As you remove them from the microwave you can place them on the second piece of paper towel to cool down. 

After a few minutes, they are ready to use in all your craft projects. 

Two things to note, the scent will not hold.  You may end up with a bit of a residual scent, but most of the rose scent will vanish after drying.

Your flower petals might also change colour.  I started with bright pink flower petals that dried to a beautiful lilac purple colour. 

Can you dry other types of flower petals?

Yup!

Peony, sunflower, cosmos, lavatera, daisies; honestly I would try anything I thought might work. 

Whole flowers do not dry well in the microwave without the assistance of some silica gel, but the petals by themselves do dry quite well so my advice is to try ’em.  

I don’t know if anyone has checked the price of dried flowers lately, or even potpourri, it’s insane!  

Dry your own, save some cash, get creative.  

A few craft ideas for your dried rose petals 

So that’s how to dry rose petals quick and easy.   It works SO well, I highly recommend you make a bunch, just for fun.  

BUT… consider all the things you could make with your dried flower petals. 

If you use organic roses, or roses from your own garden that you know have not been sprayed with chemicals, you can dry them for homemade teas.

Dried rose petals make excellent potpourri.  It is important to note that the scent does not stay, you will need to enhance your potpourri with some essential oils, or artificial scent (if that’s your thing).   

I like to use the petals as bulk for my potpourri and always use the same oils regardless of the flowers I used.  I LOVE grapefruit and bergamot and tend to add those two scent oils to anything I make. It is a glorious scent combination. 

You can also use your rose petals in beauty products like body scrubs, or bath bombs. 

Or you can add them to homemade papers, to make your own lovely floral themed notebooks or homemade wrapping paper.  

So many ideas! 

And if you happen to have any other ideas feel free to leave a comment.  I have so many dried rose petals right now and would love some fun new ideas.