A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Cleaning leaves

The leaves on my house plants have gotten sorta dusty. How do you clean the leaves? I've heard something like using a cloth damp with milk to clean the leaves. Is that true?

If the plants are small, I put them in the kitchen sink and use the sprayer (with very gentle water pressure) to give them a good bath. When done, just line them up on your counter to dry. For big plants, I use the same basic ritual except I put them in the shower. The plants think they've been rained on and just love it :)

but don't do this to fuzzy leaved plants like african violets. they DON'T like water on their leaves.

can u do that with pothos plants too

Sure! I have some hanging ones that I just take outside on warm days, hang them on a hook on my porch, and take the garden hose to them. Or if it's too cold, set them on a plant stand in your shower so you can wash the leaves good and then leave there till they are dry.

yup i do mine in tub to and sometimes
get wet dish rag and wash mine too. Then on
some i use my plant shine then they are all shiny
and pretty

I just did this this past week. All of my plants that I could move were given a good shower. They look so nice afterwards, I'm sure it does them good.

Justagirl...I've heard of the milk story too, but I've never done it and I'm kind of leary about putting anything on the leaves that may close up their breathing pores.

There's Bettyboop again - taunting me with that gnome I want!

I clean mine once a week with a wet rag. Mind you I only have 4 plants at the moment.