The biggest bang for your buck when it comes to decor and function is a live plant or tree.  Plants provide life to a room, literally.  They are natural and beautiful and clean the air in your home.  Plants reduce the toxins your family breathes as well as decreasing the amount of dust and grime needing cleaned.  While the air-purifying characteristics of plants are scientifically grounded, I am speaking anecdotally of the dust/grime-cutting traits.  As a self-professed clean freak and co-owner/partner of Darling Dusters professional home cleaning services, I can say that homes with live plants (known for air-cleaning properties) have less dust and build-up in certain areas of the home and I am about to share with you which plants have worked for me (and are backed up by NASA with some actual scientific proof).

“NASA studied the abilities of houseplants to filter benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, ammonia and trichloroethylene — pollutants in spacecraft, homes and office buildings. Furnishings, carpeting and building materials produce these pollutants. Certain houseplants removed as much as 87 percent of indoor air pollutants within 24 hours.”

Top Houseplants for a Cleaner Home

• Peace Lily

Peace Lilies are beautiful and easy to care for.  They require indirect sunlight and prefer a cool spot without heat blowing on them or any direct rays from the sun.  Peace lilies can bloom throughout the year when happy and are almost as pretty when they aren’t blooming.  Take care with peace lilies and small children or pets.  They can be poisonous if large amounts are eaten.  I keep a Peace Lily on the landing of my stairs to the second floor of the house.  Overwatering is shown by yellow edges on the leaves and you always know if your Peace Lily needs water because it will droop and look sad…

 

• Spider Plant

The spider plant is one of my most favorite houseplants.  It loves sunlight but shouldn’t get it too directly or the leaves will burn.  It is great for spaces with extended lengths of time with lots of indirect light.  I especially liked having the spider plant in my kitchen because all those surfaces attract the junk in the air from cooking and cleaning but at my current home there is no room (mine is a beast!) so it currently resides in my very sunny stairwell under a skylight.  Spider plants propagate quickly and easily…the new plantlets literally dangle; ready to be planted in their own little pot and given as a gift!

 

• Mother-in-law Tongue or Snake Plant

Snake Plants are dramatic and great for low-light areas of the home and/or spaces where you tend to keep blinds closed or curtains drawn more often.  Great in the bedroom since they are capable of providing you more oxygen as you sleep!  They are also very hardy and can deal with irregularity in their watering schedule.  Be careful not to overwater in
the winter, once or twice a month is sufficient while the plant is dormant.  Keep pets away from this plant as it can poison them if ingested.  The effects are less on people but I wouldn’t add it to my salad!

 

• Philodendron

This plant is the best houseplant ever in my opinion.  They come in many varieties and are workhorses when it comes to keeping your air and home cleaner.  Philodendron are super hard to kill, can deal with neglect easily, adjust to different levels of light quickly and vine and grow like crazy if you are taking good care of them.  I always have philodendron up high in the kitchen.  I originally put them high because they are poisonous to people and pets.  Currently I have 2 large plants at the corners of my kitchen on top of the cabinets and they seriously cut down on the amount of kitchen cooking grime and gunk.  Significantly.  I didn’t realize this happy accident until I began Darling Dusters home cleaning service but now I know I will always have them up there as long as there is space to do it, of course!

• Rubber Tree Plant

These plants are quite beautiful and, as required at my home, hardy and easy to care for.  They do not require very much water and can handle low light levels quite nicely.  The leaves are a deep dark green and they have purplish red underneath.  The blooms are interesting and dramatic.  The large waxy leaves lend to its air-cleaning efforts.  Be careful when you move or care for this one, though.  When a leaf is knocked off or trimmed it bleeds a milky, rubbery substance.

• Ivy (Swedish is my favorite!)

Swedish Ivy is my favorite looking plant in my home.  It has the prettiest color of green and it’s delicate leaves are sweet.  This plant can vine but the leaves are not terribly strong so keeping it pinched back and fuller is better for the plant.  This one is my most needy plant but they are so super awesome at keeping the air clean and I love the look so much it is a pleasure to care for them.  These plants need diffused light, nothing direct and nothing too bright or lengthy in time.  They are especially happy when damp (not wet) and it is slightly overcast outside with the curtains wide open.  I keep them in easy to reach places and give them small amounts of water frequently.  These plants are similar to the spider plant in that they are easily trimmed and started as a new plant for a friend or loved one.  But they are also poisonous to people and pets so use discretion!

• Aloe Vera

The aloe plant is my go-to bathroom plant.  They not only have amazing air-cleaning properties, they also have homeopathic applications as well.  Aloe is great for the skin and can ease the pain and speed the healing of minor cuts and burns.  Aloe is also know to aide certain tummy/digestive issues when used properly.  I personally love the shade of green and it is a succulent, so it looks very different from my other leafy plants.  Aloe Vera is a relatively hardy plant and easy to care for, requiring sunlight and a little water.

 

Plants make a house a home in my opinion and while filling a home with silk plants and flowers might make it look pretty, the reality is they will eventually make it dirtier.  Silk and plastic plants are synthetic, so they are in and of themselves made of chemicals and also, they get dusty.  Have you ever looked at the faux trees and plants in your or your friends’ homes?  Unless said person is really into dusting (or the decor is new), they are dusty.  It is a hugely time-consuming job dusting those plants, one that usually is neglected, leading to dirtier air.  I would much rather spend less time watering real plants than more time dusting fake ones.

When NASA conducted their study they determined the cleanest air was accomplished by placing a plant per 100 square feet of home.  This number first seemed really high, (a 4,000 sq ft home would need like 40 plants?!) but then I realized if you decorate your room, incorporating at least one plant in each room, it is easy and not at all overpopulating.  A lot of a home’s square footage isn’t where you hang out for extended periods of time.