I’m not going to lie, pressing sunflowers are one of the hardest things to press! I’ve had several failed attempts…

Sunflowers have a very high moisture content, and the centre is also very sticky and full of sap, which can lead to rotting very quickly… The only way to remedy this is to quite literally slice the back of the sunflower off, so you’re left with the black centre, some of the green circumference of the back of the sunflower, and of course the yellow petals… 

I also pluck several petals off each flower head, pressing them separate as they retain their colour really well… Then proceed with pressing the heads between blotting paper… I have a food dehydrator which I set to 45 degrees, I run a lot of fleshy flowers through this, it helps speed the drying process, preventing rotting, and also help preserve colour… You could try popping your press in your oven for a several  hours… 

Open the press straight after and replace the paper, either repeating the drying process or leaving it for a week or so, checking regularly until they’re done.