Artificial Wedding Flowers
Artificial flowers and imitations of natural flowers are sometimes made for scientific purposes (the collection of glass flowers at Harvard University, for example, which illustrates the flora of the United States), but more often as articles for commercial or residential decoration.
Materials used in their manufacture have included painted linen and shavings of stained horn in Egypt, gold and silver in ancient Rome, rice-paper in China, silkworm cocoons in Italy, colored feathers in South America, and also wax and tinted shells. Modern techniques involve carved or formed soap, nylon netting stretched over wire frames, ground clay, and mass-produced injection plastic mouldings. Polyester is the major material for manufacturing of artificial flowers since 1970s. Most artificial flowers in the market nowadays are made of polyester fabrics.
Production
The industry is now a highly specialized one with several different manufacturing processes. Hundreds of artificial flower factories in the Pearl River delta area of Guangdong province in China have been built since the early 1980s. Thousands of 40 ft containers of polyester flowers and plants are exported to almost all countries every year.
Polyester and paper
Five main processes may be distinguished
- The first step consists of putting the polyester fabric in gelatine in order to stiffen it.
- The second consists of cutting up the various polyester fabrics and materials employed into shapes suitable for forming the leaves, petals, etc.; this may be
- done with scissors, but more often with stamps that can cut through a dozen or more thicknesses at one blow.
- The veins of the leaves are next impressed by means of a die, silk screen printing and the petals are given their natural rounded forms by goffering irons of various shapes.
- The next step is to assemble the petals and other parts of the flower, which is built up from the center outwards;
- The fifth is to mount the flower on a stalk of brass or iron wire wrapped with suitably colored material, and to add the leaves to complete the spray.
- Paper and cloth flowers are also made with origami.
Soap
There are two methods
Carved: A bar with layered colored soap is mounted in a lathe, and circular grooves are chiseled into it. The finished flower is symmetric and regular, but the flowers are not identical and can be called handmade.
Molded: An oil-less soap milled to a powder is mixed with water, and the paste is used as a modelling material. Leaf and petal textures are stamped or rolled onto the soap. This is an expensive, labour-intensive process.
Clay
Clay flowers are made of powdered clay mixed with water and coloring. Even though somewhat less realistic than the plastic ones, stylized and good taste clay flowers can be a great addition to any environment.
Plastic
Injection mould is used for mass manufacture of plastic flowers. Plastic is injected into a preformed metal die.
How to Clean Silk Flowers
Do not clean silk flower with soap and water, with a vacuum or by dusting. Soap and water may loosen the parts of the silk flower held together by glue. Using a vacuum may rip apart the petals and leaves and dusting a silk flower is ineffective.
The best way to clean a silk flower is by using a silk flower cleaning spray. These types of sprays dissolve dust on impact without the assistance of wiping.
A home remedy for cleaning slik flowers is to place the flowers in a bag with a quarter cup of salt. Gently shake the bag. The salt fills all crevices and hard to reach spots and removes the dust. This method is less effective than using the spray but still works.
