How to Clean Your Plants and Why It's Important
Plants are not only beautiful additions to your home but also natural air purifiers that provide numerous benefits for our health and well-being. However, to keep your plants thriving, regular cleaning is essential. Just like any other item in your home, plants accumulate dust, dirt, and debris that can affect their overall health and appearance. In this post, we’ll explore why cleaning your plants is so important and provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to do it properly.
Why Cleaning Your Plants Is Important
Before we dive into the cleaning process, let’s first understand why it’s crucial to give your plants some TLC when it comes to cleaning:
1. Improves Photosynthesis
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Plants rely on sunlight for photosynthesis, the process through which they convert light into energy. When the leaves are covered in dust or grime, it reduces the amount of sunlight they can absorb. By regularly cleaning your plants, you ensure their leaves stay free from dust, allowing them to absorb as much sunlight as possible and stay healthy.
2. Prevents Pest Infestations
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Dust and debris can attract pests like spider mites, thrips and aphids, who love to hide on the underside of leaves, and plant leaf surfaces. Keeping your plant clean helps prevent these pests from establishing a home on your plant. It also makes it easier to spot early signs of pest infestations so you can take action quickly.
3. Promotes Better Air Quality
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Many houseplants are known for their ability to purify the air by removing toxins like formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene. However, dirty leaves can hinder this process. Cleaning your plants regularly ensures they continue to filter the air effectively, contributing to a healthier living environment.
4. Enhances Aesthetic Appeal
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Dusty or dirty plants just don’t look as vibrant as their clean counterparts. Regular cleaning keeps your plants looking fresh, shiny, and beautiful, enhancing the overall decor of your space.
How to Clean Your Plants
Now that we understand why cleaning plants is so important, let’s take a look at how to properly clean your plants. Here are some easy and effective methods for various types of plants.
1. Gather Supplies
Having the right supplies can make cleaning your house plants a much more enjoyable process! Here’s a few of our favorite cleaning supplies:
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Houseplant Wipes: We’ve used these since the beginning. Plant wipes are the quickest way to get your regular routine plant cleaning done. With added non-toxic pest preventatives, these will also help prevent pest outbreaks on your plants!
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Microfiber Gloves: Microfiber gloves are one of the best ways to clean your plants as they give you full dexterity to reach every crease of your plant without damaging or tearing your leaves.
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Leaf Wellness Spray: This is one of our favorite all-natural + non-toxic sprays that help keep the pores of your leaves while also giving your plant a beautiful lasting shine to their leaves. This spray also contains pest preventative ingredients to keep common pests like Spider Mites, Thrips, and Mealy Bugs away!
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Dead AF: We always recommend spraying your plants down with a dedicated pest-preventative every time after you clean your plants! Dead AF is our favorite, plus it’s safe for kids and your furry friends!
2. Clean off your leaves
Take your wipes, damp cloth, or damp paper towel and wipe off all leaf surfaces, underside of leaves and stems. It’s important to rid your plant of all the dust before beginning to spray and treat your plants to avoid further clogging of its pores.
3. Washing Your Plants
For more significant cleaning (especially for larger plants), you can give your plants a light shower to remove dust and dirt.
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Step 1: Take your plant outside or place it in the shower or bathtub.
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Step 2: Use a gentle spray of lukewarm water to rinse off the leaves. Be sure to avoid using a strong stream of water that might damage the plant.
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Step 3: Allow the plant to air dry in a well-ventilated space.
4. Shine Your Leaves
If you want to give your plants that extra bit of shine, you can use a leaf shine product. However, be cautious as not all products labeled ‘Leaf Shine’ are beneficial for your plants. Most superstore leaf shine products are made with plastics and will actually clog your plants leaves and harm your plants natural photosynthesis process.
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Step 1: Choose a natural, non-toxic leaf shine solution like Leaf Wellness
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Step 2: Spray a small amount onto leaves and wipe off with a microfiber cloth, or use plant cleaning gloves which is our recommendation. Be sure to wipe both the top and bottoms of the leaves, as well as stems.
5. Cleaning the Soil Surface
The soil surface of your plant pot can collect dead plants and debris over time, this can lead to powdery mildew and a good home for pests. To clean the soil surface:
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Step 1: Gently remove any visible dirt, dead leaves, or debris from the surface of the soil.
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Step 2: If needed, replace the top layer of soil with fresh soil or a decorative soil topping to keep the plant healthy and reduce the risk of fungal growth.
5. Spray with Pest Preventative
After you’ve finished cleaning your plants, mist your plants with a pest spray. This is one of the most important steps as this will help avoid pest outbreaks. We always recommend treating pests every time you clean or water your plants as it’s far easier to keep pests away than it is to get rid of an outbreak.
Conclusion
Regularly cleaning your plants is a simple but effective way to keep them healthy, beautiful, and thriving. By removing dust, preventing pests, and ensuring they can photosynthesize properly, you’re giving your plants the best chance to grow and flourish. So, don’t forget to add plant cleaning to your plant care routine—it’s an easy way to improve both the health of your plants and the overall ambiance of your home. Happy cleaning! 🌿✨
