Antifreeze as a preservative for natural scenery materials?

I know that using a glycerin/water solution with food coloring preserves Ming Fern, so the idea makes sense. I'd say using glycerin and water would be better than antifreeze (ethylene-glycol) as the glycerin/water solution is much less toxic (plant toxicity aside).

David Frary book, "Realistic Model Railroad Scenery" 1982.  I followed his directions on page 51 for mixing glycerin with water and dye on a whole bunch of Lichen I picked back in the 80's in Northern Michigan.  As long as you have some humidity in the train room I can attest that the lichen never has dried out on my layout in 30 years.  a small batch can be mixed using 16 oz. of glycerin with 48 oz of water and 1 oz or half a packet of rit or tintex (spelling) of dye.  I know it seems like a lot but you can adjust your mixture accordingly.  Also to replenish the solution it's 3 oz of glycerin to 1 oz or half packet of dye.  Of course this solution must be heated to work.  Pick up a copy of his book.  It's been my bible for over 30+ years.

As you can see I have done a lot of trees on my layout.  All natural materials and all made by hand.  Using lichen on twigs or just balled up in the back ground.  I think trees make a layout stand out.  Between 2 of us we can make 100 trees in an hour after the lichen has been dyed.  if you have the wild reed in your part of the country growing on the side of the road it makes great different trees.  I forget the name for it but it is an invasive species her in Michigan.

That's really nice LARY

Thanks for the replies Matt and Sam.  LARY,  what a gorgeous layout!  The trees really add to it.  It's good to know that they don't dry out.

I have the 2nd edition of of D. Frary's book and have used his glycerin and dye method to process two large trash bags of lichen that I picked in Maine a few years ago.  I like trying different techniques and since antifreeze  is readily available I thought I try it.  Actually, I have a couple of gallons leftover from another project to experiment with.  It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

Did some additional searching and one guy recommended using the cheap green antifreeze and water to soak the plants. The soaking time seems to vary depending on what you're trying to preserve. Glycerine and water -- 25% to 33% glycerin seems to be the amount -- as a soaking solution seemed to be the big technique for preserving plants. With stalks, the solution is the "water" you set them in; with leaves, you submerge them. The time seems to vary from a few days for glycerin and water to a few weeks for the green antifreeze. Apparently, after treatment, the plant material remains flexible for years. The Ming fern we bought last time wasn't preserved and faded pretty badly, but the previous batch had been treated.

That's interesting.  Thanks, Matt.

I suppose heating the antifreeze, as in Dave Frary's glycerin method, would speed up the process.  Also, as the chlorophyll in the green plant material dies and fades it needs to be replaced with food coloring or fabric dye in solution with the antifreeze.   That might have helped your Ming fern.

Would you mind sharing your source for preserving plant materials?