When you receive, buy or make porcelain flowers, you want to make sure the flowers last and don’t become damaged. Aside from placing the porcelain flowers in a safe area, you primarily will be concerned with cleaning the flowers to ensure they don’t get any stains, and that dust isn’t allowed to wear away the details. While porcelain can be durable, porcelain flowers should be treated as brittle and delicate to ensure they do not break.
To display porcelain bouquets, place them in a realistic setting such as a vase. Ensure the vase is away from children’s hands and in a place where the temperature is nominal. Extreme highs or lows in temperature can damage porcelain flowers. Also be sure to keep the flowers away from water and anywhere stains might occur, such as near a bathtub or on the kitchen table.
Before cleaning the porcelain blooms, prepare a surface to keep any minute particles from coming in contact with and scratching the flowers. Wipe down a surface with warm water and dry it. Then, put down a double layer of cloth. Place the porcelain flowers on the cloth.
Dust each porcelain flower. If a flower is small, use a dry cotton swab; if the flower is large, use a soft 2-inch (about 5 centimeters) brush and carefully brush down the flower. A hair dryer on a low, cool setting can also be used to get rid of any dust. If this is not enough to get rid of the dust, use a damp cotton swab or cloth and carefully wipe down the flower.
Stains sometimes get on porcelain flowers. To get rid of a general stain, mix 1 tablespoon (about 15 grams) baking soda with warm water and wipe down the area with the stain. If the stain does not lift, bleach can substituted for the baking soda, but ensure it is heavily diluted. Do not allow the bleach to sit on the porcelain for long, because this can wear the paint.
Never soak porcelain flowers. If there is any damage, such as a hairline fracture in the porcelain, soaking would allow the water to get into the area and exacerbate the damage. The effects would be similar with any soaking, even if repairs had been made.
Storing porcelain flowers requires an equal amount of care. Start by wrapping the flowers in acid-free paper or cloth. Then, place the flowers in an archival box. While cardboard or plastic boxes may seem a viable solution, they may leech chemicals into the porcelain that could damage the flowers.