You’ve bagged yourself a wonderful artificial plant. You’ve fallen in love with the colourful boost it gives your room. Now you’re wondering how to look after artificial plants and make them last forever. With this handy how-to, we’ll tell you how to keep them fresh and funky.
First things first. Identifying what your artificial plant is made of is going to be handy. Some plants contain both polymer and silk flowers. Knowing if this is the case is important. Silk flowers won’t respond well to some of the techniques suggested here (wetting them may cause their colours to bleed).
Alternative artificial plant cleaners
Just how do you clean artificial plants? Well, the good news is that many household products are also good for keeping on top of cleaning your artificial plant.
Apart from several specific products designed to clean artificial plants, there are also several alternatives!
The crucial thing to consider when cleaning artificial plants is that being gentle, and using soft materials, is going to extend the life of your plant. Think soft brushes, feather dusters and microfibre cloths.
Incorporate cleaning your artificial plant with regular dusting duties so that looking after your greenery isn’t too much of a chore!
Hairspray. Yes, hairspray
Cleaning fake plants with hairspray can be a great alternative for ridding them of dust. Whilst it is advisable to invest in a purpose-made silk plant cleaner, you can get considerable results with hairspray.
Lightly spraying hairspray over the leaves and stems of your artificial plant will help expel any lingering dust and lint. It will also leave a layer on the surface of the leaves that gives them a healthy shine.
Cleaning a delicate faux plant
Cleaning your artificial plant that is made of silk or is very fragile may need a bit more attention. This dry-cleaning hack is going to help.
Use your regular hairdryer on a very low and cool setting to blow away any dust and debris. If there is still some visible dirt on your plant you can try the next step
Remove from any pots the artificial plants are in and place your plant in a large bag. Once you’ve done this, fill the bag with a cup of very fine salt. Now, you’ll want to gently give the bag a shake to let the salt dislodge any dirt – particular in hard to reach places.
The final step is a repeat of step one. Use the hairdryer again to blow the remaining particles off your silk foliage, leaving them fresh and dust-free.
Shiny leaves are happy leaves
An old housekeeping trick when cleaning windows is to use vinegar! We’re very much after a similar result for our artificial plant leaves. Mix a solution that’s one-third white vinegar and two-thirds water and pop it in a spray bottle, and give your plant’s leaves a thorough spraying. Leave it to do its magic for a couple of minutes and simply wipe it off.
You can also substitute vinegar for fairy liquid, sugar soap or lemon juice.
This same method also works with many other household cleaning products. You can add a nice-smelling sheen as well with a scented surface cleaner.
Useful Care Tips For Artificial Plants
Apart from giving your lovely potted pal a regular clean, there are a couple of general care tips you can follow:
It is always a good idea to limit how much your artificial plant is in direct sunlight. Moving it about is a good way around this. If moving is not possible, turn it every week, a quarter turn, so the UV rays are evenly distributed right around the plant. Nobody wants a patchy plant right!
These care tips are particularly applicable if your artificial plant is positioned outside.
Artificial Green Wall
If you have a lovely artificial green wall, the good news is that maintenance is even easier and much less frequent. A couple of times a year, with an ordinary garden hose, give your artificial green wall a dowsing to dislodge any dirt. Depending on what kind of visitors your garden gets (like pigeons), your wall garden may need dowsing more than a couple of times a year.
With these easy tips, achievable with many household products, you will now be in the know about how to clean artificial plants. By making sure you give your fake plant the same care and attention as a real one, it’ll look great year upon year.
