How to Clean an Indoor Plant

Keeping your indoor plants healthy, pest free, happy and lush requires regular cleaning. Clean and radiant indoor plants add a spark of life to any indoor environment. People walk into a room, and it feels like the outdoors came inside when the indoor plants are clean and fresh. Cleaning a plant is done by following these steps.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Damp clean cloth
• Duster

1. Start with one plant at a time because some plants may have pests. If you try to clean all the plants at once you transport one plant's infestation to another pest-free plant. Pests love to hop from one plant to the next--it's quite easy.

2. Take a good look at the indoor plant. See how much dust and grease are on the leaves, stems and branches. If it is thick, use a damp cloth to clean the plant. A duster can't handle the big jobs. If the dust is light with very little grease, a duster can do the trick quickly.

3. Wipe the leaves with a dampened cloth by starting at one point and working your way around the plant coming back to where you started.

4. Stand back and make sure you wiped all the leaves. It is easy to notice because clean leaves are shiny whereas dirty, dusty ones are dull. Wipe the leaves or leaf that you missed. Make sure you wipe them all.

5. Clean the area where leaves attach to the stem and where the branches meet. Look for areas where dirt and dust have settled. Wipe the plant completely.

Tips & Warnings

• Plants are delicate. Be very gentle when wiping the plant free of dust or dirt.
• A clean plant is a healthy plant. A clean plant is a happy plant. A clean plant is a pest-free plant.
• Between cleaning of the indoor plants, take the duster outside and shake it clean.
• Dust, dirt and grease prevent the plant from having proper photosynthesis, keeping it from breathing.
• Dirty indoor plants most likely have pests because the little bugs love to live in dirt and dust. Also, pests gravitate to weaker plants. A dirty indoor plant is a sign of weakness.
• When using a duster to wipe the leaves, stems and branches, keep the movement very deliberate and contained. Do not flip the duster at the leaves. This will only spread the dust around, not contain it and remove it.

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on 4/22/2009 You should also check out http://www.cleanplantshappyplants.comThey carry a line of shampoos and soaps specifically for taking care of plants. There are also great videos explaining how it works and the science behind it.