The maile lei is a beautiful flower necklace that’s a common accessory during many different kinds of celebrations, whether for a wedding, birthday, or graduation. Because of how special they can be during these celebratory times, they can contain a sentimental value; unfortunately, they don’t last forever. Luckily, there are steps you can take to preserve your maile lei for years to come, keeping it in pristine condition as a keepsake.
Your Lei Drying Room
For the preservation process, you need to dry out the flowers and take out all the moisture. The best way to do this is to create a special area, a lei drying room, that enables you to have an uninterrupted process. The first requirement for a dry room is good ventilation; you need a constant, smooth airflow throughout the room. Next, you must ensure there is low humidity; high humidity will force the lei to retain its moisture.
You will also need a warm environment; most often, this means utilizing your home’s heating system to control the internal climate. Finally, the last thing your drying room needs is complete darkness. This is an easy element to provide, but you must make sure you don’t set up the drying room in a space with a lot of foot traffic.
Hang Your Lei To Dry
After you establish your drying room, you need to cut your lei’s string. Attach each end of the cut string to the drying rack, making sure each flower points toward the ground. After stringing the lei, you need to play the waiting game; the wait time varies depending on how humid the room is and the quality of the airflow. The whole process can take up to several weeks. You’ll need to make the occasional visit to check the progress of your lei but keep these interruptions to a minimum.
The Final Touch
After taking it out of the drying room, there is one last step to preserving your maile lei—you need to spray it with an aerosol floral sealer. The spray keeps the lei from cracking and breaking apart, strengthening it to prevent deterioration. After you seal the lei, all you need to do is find a suitable place to display it around the home.
The preserving process works best when you start with a quality lei; ensure you know where to find top-quality maile lei for sale to get the best results possible.