Plant Cleaning

Plants work so hard to keep our environment lovely, it seems rather unfair when you think how little we do for our valiant little plants.

They work to clean our air, they bring a little colour into an otherwise dreary room, and, most importantly, they give us the oxygen we need to live. Selfishly, we enslave plants; we drag them in from outside – where the wind and rain caress them gently – and we force them to sit on shelves and tables, and, most unfairly, we torment them by putting them on a window-sill, where they can see their kin swaying happily.

You wouldn’t think about not showering for a couple of months … I managed a week once when I was travelling in California, but I wouldn’t recommend it! Now imagine being a plant, wholly reliant on us to water, feed and clean it.

Clean, you say!?

Who would think that houseplants like being cleaned? Nonetheless, all kinds of muck ends up dusting itself all over plant leaves. Understandably, poorly cared-for leaves don’t look all that great. Everything that lands on the leaves stops the plant doing what it needs to do: photosynthesize. Wading around in your memory is the knowledge that photosynthesis is the process where leaves use sun and carbon dioxide to create food – plant food, obviously. Leaves smothered in dust just aren’t able to do the job they’re made to do.

Just a couple of minutes of cleaning, will really treat your houseplants. You’ll be doing everyone a favour! Keeping your plants clean will keep your oxygen coming, will give you something pleasant to stare at when you’re off in a gaze and will even keep those pesky insects at bay.

Quality Plant Time: One-On-One?

While there are leaf-shine products tempting you at every garden-centre turn, resist! Alternatively, once in a while use a dampened baby sponge or piece of clean cotton – nothing else! – to clean waxing or smooth leaves. With greasy dust stuck on, use a spot of gentle soap on a sponge. For fluffy leaves, clean with a make-up brush or soft hairbrush.

How do you do it? Simply hold the leave gently and wipe from the top of the inside of the leaf to the outside.

You could also treat your houseplants to an outdoor excursion – give them a chance to enjoy the wind across their leaves! While there, give them a trim if they need it and water them from a watering can (hose water could be a little too cold).

In the colder months, clean the plants by putting them under the shower for a while. When I’ve finished my shower I put my houseplants under a cool shower while I dress and prepare to leave the house. It’s like treating them to a morning in the rain … lovely! Before I leave I turn the shower off and leave the plants to drip-dry all day.

Giving your plants a bit of a clean, will really brighten their day, and will brighten your room. So get to it.