Why & How to Clean My Plant Leaves (6 Best Ways)

Houseplants, especially which have shiny and clean leaves are a treat to the eyes. If you use ornamental plants in your yard or indoor garden, ensure their foliage is clear enough for healthy leaves and provides the expected look.

No plant displays are pretty with dirty or dusty foliage and damage your plant’s growth. Hence, you must be attentive toward your houseplant and keep cleaning their leaves once every few whiles to hold their exact striking peek naturally.

Here we come up with some essential facts you should know about cleaning plant leaves along with the best possible methods of this procedure-

Why Cleaning Your Plant Leaves is Important?

There are some imperative sides you must know about cleaning leaves. These will encourage you more to keep the foliage of your houseplant clean eternally-

• Clean leaves help to hold the actual beauty of your plant properly
• Plants with dusty leaves attract harmful insects more quickly
• Untreated dirty plant leaves often provide undefined damage to your plant
• Plants will accumulate dust and dirt along with other debris over time
• Plant leaves with a dusty surface will reduce the sunlight-absorbing quality of a plant
• Thus, it also hampers the photosynthesis process indirectly
• Uncleaned foliage discourages the growth of new leaves
• These types of leaves also turn old quickly and then, contaminate the nearer foliage as well

So, you must maintain clean leaves of your plant to keep it vigorous and unaffected from every aspect.  Clean leaves also help to hold the actual beauty of your plant properly.

How Often Should You Clean Your Plant Leaves?

The actual schedule of cleaning leaves depends on the dustiness of your place. However, you should be attentive to your plant to find out any sort of dust gathering on the foliage. You can check it by rubbing your fingertips on the surface of your plant leaves.

Checking the stem and leaves or internal parts of plants with a magnifying glass, once every few days would be another good idea here.

Only make sure that you are cleaning the leaves gently and not damaging any segment of your plant during this process.

6 Best Ways to Clean Your Plant Leaves Naturally:

You can lean the leaves of your houseplant in several ways. No matter whether the foliage is tiny or big, curly or straight, single-stem or shrubby; these methods are effective on each type of plant smoothly. Let’s learn how to apply the process accurately-

1. Clean You Plant Leaves With a Flush of Water:

• Bring the planters to your bathroom and place them in your bathtub in a row
• Now take the detachable showerhead or hand shower or watering pipe
• Attach the other side of the pipe to your water faucet
• Turn the tap on and give your plants a good shower thoroughly
• If you have only smaller plants, try to give such wash in your sink, one by one
• You can use normal tap water or lukewarm water to apply the process
• Let the planters place the place you wash them, for a few whiles
• When you find the excess water is dropped away totally, bring them back to its previous spot.

2. Clean You Plant Leaves with Microfiber Cloth:

• Bring a dry microfiber cloth
• Now start wiping each leaf of your plant individually with the cloth
• Make sure you try this process gently while wiping the top to the back surface of a leaf entirely
• You can try this procedure with a duster as well instead of microfiber cloth
• This process goes well with plants with big foliage

3. Clean You Plant Leaves with Soapy Wash:

• Bring your plant under a bright light first
• Now, take a piece of spongy wipers with non-abrasive quality
• Make a mixture by combining 1 part of liquid soap and 3 parts of water
• Dip the spongy part of the wiper in the mixture and start cleaning the leaves one by one
• Cautiously wipe down the leaves this way one by one
• Once you are done, let the soapy water absorb entirely, and then, put bac the planter to its previous place again
• Try this method only with big foliage plants and avoid plants that have tons of leaves like fern or string of hearts or ZZ, etc.

4. Clean You Plant Leaves with Paintbrush:

• Bring a paintbrush that has to flatten the head with soft bristles
• You can use the paintbrush in all dry form or make it a bit damp
• Try to keep the brush dry when you witness a deep dirt layer on the foliage
• Making the paintbrush a little moist could help to clean leaves with a thin layer of dirt
• This process goes well with a plant with fuzzy leaves

5. Clean You Plant Leaves By Dunking:

• Take a small bathtub filled with clean and fresh water
• Take your planter and put your hand over the soil, exactly at the base of your plant
• Turn your plant upside down and steep it inside the water level carefully
• Let the entire plant submerged in the water for a few seconds
• Shake the planter along with the plant slowly and steadily during this process
• This will help to wipe away the entire dusty layer of your plant effectively
• Once you are done, turn the planter up and place it in a bright sunny spot for a couple of hours
• Try this process with smaller houseplants to get the expected outcome

6. Clean You Plant Leaves with Damp Cloth:

• To try this method, bring a clean piece of cloth along with a bowl of clean water
• Dip the cloth into the bowl to make it damp and squeeze the excess water tightly
• Now, bring your plant and start cleaning the leaves manually one by one
• Try this process with big and single-foliage plants like fiddle-fig, elephant ear, caladium, philodendron, etc.

How to Keep Your Plant Clean and Shiny for a Longer While:

• Keep your plant away from window drafts
• Place your planter away from windowsills
• Cover your planter with a transparent plastic cover after washing them clean
• Apply a layer of mayonnaise over the leaves of big-foliage plants through a paper towel to keep them shiny for long
• Try this method only after cleaning your plant leaves properly
• You can also apply a layer of mineral oil for the same purpose
• Sprinkling commercial plants shining products onto the leaves with a sprayer would be another smart idea in this regard
• However, a few gardeners suggest avoiding any kind of commercial product on our plant in every possible way
• And finally, try to be a little attentive about your houseplants unswervingly, as long as you have any growing plants around you.

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FAQ: Plant Care Why and How to Clean Your Leaves

Q: Why cleaning your plant leaves is essential?
A: Clean leaves help to hold the true beauty of your plant correctly, attract less harmful insects, prevent undefined damages, improve sunlight absorption, and promote the growth of new leaves.

Q: How often should you clean your plant leaves?
A: The frequency of cleaning leaves depends on the dustiness of your place. Check the leaves by rubbing your fingertips on the surface of the leaves and inspect the stem and leaves with a magnifying glass once every few days.

Q: What are the best ways to clean your plant leaves naturally?
A: The best ways to clean plant leaves naturally are by flushing with water, wiping with a microfiber cloth, washing with a soapy solution, brushing with a paintbrush, dunking in a bathtub, and wiping with a damp cloth.