Silk flowers are also referred to as “permanent botanicals” by florists, because they never die. While artificial flowers can be used for scientific purposes, they are mainly used in commercial or home decoration. A lot of the time most people cannot tell the difference between artificial and real flowers. Generally artificial flowers are made from polyester or silk, but they can be made from other materials like carved soap, silver and gold and even feathers. So that the stems can be shaped they are usually made from plastic coated wire.
The petals and leaves of these flowers are often colored by hand, using cotton balls or fine paintbrushes, it can take hours for some petals to be complete. If a finish petal has dye spots it will be rejected automatically. So that petals keep their desired shape they are placed in a mold, a great amount of heat is applied to the press so that the petals keep their shape permanently. Once the petal has been molded wires are placed inside then and glued in place. All of the separate leaves and flowers are made individually, once everything is finished they are all put together.
There are a number of reasons why people would rather use imitation flowers over live ones, especially at weddings. The biggest reason is cost. Using fresh flowers can cost thousands of dollars and more, while using silk flowers will cost considerably less. Plus they are much more hard wearing than fresh flowers are. Another reason is that you can get any style and color of flower you want, regardless of whether its in season or not and because they look so real no one will be able to tell the difference.
The best way for you to clean silk flowers is using a specific silk flower spray cleaner. Using soap and water can lead to the glue holding the flowers together coming apart and a vacuum cleaner can potentially rip the leaves and petals apart. If the flowers just need a quick going over a soft feather duster will get the worst of the dust and dirt off.
Artificial flowers are only going to be come more common the future. People might like the wonder and beauty of nature, but they also love the low maintenance aspect of imitation flowers. Your home or business can be made just a great looking using artificial flowers as it can with fresh ones.