A general guide for soaking your willow is to allow around 24 hours for every 1 foot of length in material – this is when you are dealing with thin willow wands up-to say 1cm, over this diameter and the soaking time would need to increase, as it would if you were soaking willow with its bark left on.

How long do you need to soak willow?

Soaking for too long and it may become slimy, too short a time and the willow will be too rigid still. We have seen a rule of thumb that says soak for one day per foot of length so, four foot lengths of willow should be soaked for four days.

Can you over soak willow?

SOAKING BASKETRY WILLOW

Over time, you will begin to recognize the signs that your willow is soaked correctly. Under-soaked willow will have wrinkled bark, kink easily and crack when you bend it. If your willow is over-soaked the bark will be soft and damage easily.