How to Clean Artificial Plants and Trees

Known as the popular zero-maintenance and always beautiful option for homes, patios, restaurants and more, artificial trees, plants and floral arrangements have consistently grown in use nationwide, and with that has come the promotion of special cleaners for artificial plants and an increasing number of customers wondering how to easily clean and care for their items. Compared to live plants, artificial options are essentially care-free, requiring only minor dusting and do not need any specialty cleaners. In this article, we shed some light on the best ways to clean your plants, depending on foliage type and location so that you can care for them as well as the pros. The best part? Providing the proper care is faster than you can imagine and rarely requires any extra equipment.

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What NOT to do:

Do not use any cleaners other than water.

In an attempt to appeal to the common thought that solutions require purchased products, certain companies market spray cleaners and pre-wetted wipes to clean artificial plants. Not only are marketed sprays and cleansers not necessary to clean your plants, but they also have negative effects on the integrity of the leaves. Harsh cleaners can strip protective coatings, alter coloration and decrease the lifespan of your trees and plants.

Do not use paper towels.

While easy, paper towels can leave paper towel lint on leaves, especially textured leaves and fuzzy items such as certain artificial cacti. We recommend using a clean, lightly damp microfiber towel.

Do not let dust accumulate.

To avoid dust sticking to the leaves in a layer, light but frequent cleaning will keep your plants looking beautiful 24/7 and will keep you from potentially damaging your foliage with harder cleaning pressure.

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What TO do:

Broad leafed trees such as Traveller’s Palms and Banana Plants can be cleaned with a damp microfiber.

Leaves: The best method for cleaning your plants foliage depends on the size of the leaves. For large and broad leaves such as Traveller’s Palms, agaves, yuccas, and wide-leafed floor plants, simply wipe the leaves clean with a slightly wetted microfiber towel. For small leafed trees, such as eucalyptus and olive trees, softly use a feather duster on the leaves. If you notice dust within bends of your plant such as where leaves connect to stalks or trunks, compressed air can be helpful.

Hard to Reach Items: If you have foliage in hard to reach places such as on top of cabinets or tall trees, we recommend using a telescoping feather duster. If you have a step ladder handy and a normal duster that works too! For trees, start at the top and work your way down to the bottom leaves last.

Topper: Due to its difficulty to clean, we do not recommend using Spanish moss as a topper for potted plants. River rock and standard landscaping rock is easier to clean. While not as smooth as rock, bark can make for an adequately easy to clean topper as well. If you choose to use bark as a topper in your potted plants, we recommend larger chunk chips that are free of small strands and pieces.

To clean rock topper, you can use a feather duster, compressed air, or, if the rocks are larger, a slightly wetter microfiber towel. To clean bark topper, you can also use compressed air and feather dusters, but we recommend you do not use liquid or microfiber towels on bark as the they can absorb the water and cling to the towels.

Grasses: For grass blades of a plastic composition, a wet microfiber towel or feather duster can be used. For pampas grass and other grasses that are dried or accented with feathery plumes, we suggest only using a soft feather duster to prevent damage. Moss walls can usually be cleaned with just a feather duster as well.

Outdoors: Many outdoor plants can be sprayed down with a hose set to a soft shower feature. If your plant’s pot is filled with a water-sensitive fill material such as packing paper or clumping cat liter, you have a water-sensitive topper such as moss, or your outdoor plants are built on real wood, do not use a hose to clean them. For outdoor rated plants of a plastic composition such as agaves and cacti, however, a light spray of the hose is generally acceptable. If you’re concerned about wetting your plant or container, simply use a damp microfiber on the leaves the way you would clean an indoor plant.

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We hope these tips help you to feel more comfortable in safely and quickly cleaning your indoor and outdoor artificial plants. With a small amount of occasional care, you will be able to keep your artificial trees, plants and arrangements looking the same as the day you brought them home for years to come. Should you ever have any specific questions regarding maintenance or repair of any of your items, we are always happy to provide personalized advice via phone, email or in person.