how to clean flowers that are not flowers

The routine takes about two minutes a month, and the thing that ruins these is almost always water — usually water somebody used while trying to be helpful. Here is how to clean artificial flowers without shortening their life, whether they are chenille like ours, crochet, silk or plastic.

The method, in order

• A hairdryer on cool, from about a foot away. This is the whole routine for most pieces. Dust lifts off in seconds and nothing touches the petals.
• A soft dry brush for what is left. A clean makeup brush or a dry toothbrush, worked from the centre outwards.
• Compressed air for tight centres. A sunflower centre packs dust and a brush cannot reach it.

What not to do

Do not use water on anything wire-cored. Chenille is polyester pile spun onto steel. Soak it and the core can rust from the inside, which shows up months later as a brown stain spreading out from the middle of a petal. A damp cloth is the same mistake in slow motion.

Do not use a vacuum. Even on low, it pulls pile off the wire and the petal goes patchy.

Cotton crochet is the exception — most crochet flowers can be hand-washed gently in cool water with mild detergent and dried flat, because there is no steel in them. Check with whoever made yours before you try it.

Sunlight, which is the slow killer

Dye fades. A piece on a south-facing windowsill will visibly lift in colour over a year; the same piece on a bookshelf across the room will not. If a bouquet is going somewhere bright, expect it to soften in tone and place it accordingly rather than fighting it.

Storing and reshaping

Box it loosely rather than tightly — pressure creases pile. If it comes out of storage crushed, open each petal with your fingers: the wire remembers, which is the advantage of building a flower on a skeleton. A crochet flower needs reshaping and pinning instead.

Everything we make is handled this way and expected to last years, not seasons. ₹399 to ₹2,999, made to order in Gurgaon.