Houseplants are one of the healthiest things in a home. Why? Houseplants clean our air. Because so many houses are becoming more and more energy efficient, it means they are becoming more and more air tight. While this is good for our energy bills, it’s not so good for the air in our homes. One of the best things for creating clean, breathable air in our homes is a houseplant.
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Houseplants are one of nature’s most wonderful creations. In exchange for a little water, sunlight, and loving attention, they scrub our air and give us beautiful, breathable oxygen in return. But what happens when a plant becomes dusty? For one thing, it hurts the plant. It can also lower its resistance to disease and pests. Lastly, it won’t be as healthy, so it may not be able to produce as much clean oxygen. That’s why keeping your plants clean is very important.
Fortunately, it’s very easy to clean your houseplants and it doesn’t take anything special to do it. That’s right, no special “plant cleaners” are necessary. In fact, it’s better if you don’t use plant cleaners or polish because these can block the pores of the plant and, again, you will not be getting the clean air you might be looking for, and you could be harming the plant. Plant cleaners or polishes create that unnatural “waxy” look that sort of defeats the purpose of having a real plant.
Best of all, using the houseplant cleaning solution below, you will not only clean your plants, but you will also be helping to prevent disease as dish soap is a natural bug killer that will help your plants withstand disease and bug attack.
How to Clean Houseplants
In a quart sprayer, add ¼ teaspoon of dish soap. On a plastic sheet, in a bathtub, or outdoors, spray the plant thoroughly. With a soft cloth or paper towel, wipe each individual leaf.
More Houseplant Resources
Give your plant lover (or yourself?) this great resource. Indoor Plants: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Caring for Houseplants . This comprehensive guide covers it all, from care tips, to selecting the right plants for the particular conditions in your home.
How about growing better indoor air? If that's your aim, check out How to Grow Fresh Air : 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Officey. Fortunately, most of the plants listed in this book are actually plants you can grow indoors.
Houseplants: The Best & Easiest
As a former interior landscape company owner, I know a few things about plants. My favorite plant for just about every house? Without a doubt, it’s got to be the peace lily.
This versatile plant can withstand low light conditions (common in most homes) or bright light. It’s the easiest plant to care for, too. You cannot miss with this plant. Oh, and NASA rated it as one of the Top 10 plants for cleaning your home’s air of chemicals like acetone, trichloroethylene, benzene and formaldehyde!
Cleaning Silk Plants
Silk plants should also be cleaned from time to time. Most silk plants can tolerate water cleaning and this is what I usually recommend using for just about all silk plants. However, if you have expensive silk plants, do following the manufacturer’s guidelines for cleaning because some silk plants cannot get wet.
If you have this type of silk plant, please follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for cleaning. Or, if you’re not sure, do a test by cleaning one leaf with water first before cleaning the others. I usually take my silk plants out in the yard during the summer and spray them with water using a spray nozzle on the garden hose. Then, I allow them to air dry in the sun.
Care for your houseplants because they care for you!
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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Everydayclean.com Calender -- the calendar that helps you end the power struggle with your house. Keeping a clean home is about knowing what to clean when. Virtually everything that needs to be cleaned is on this calendar in a year-round cleaning schedule that helps you keep your house clean easier and faster. Click here for more information.