When you want a clean home, but also want to bring some life into it, there are many things to consider. Three of which we’re covering today: plants that clean the air, or add oxygen to it, and plants that are easy to maintain without a lot of water spills and leaf droppings. We’ve rounded up a few suggestions in each category. Read on!
Basic Plant Choice And Maintenance Tips
— Check all plants before purchasing to see if they’re toxic for kids or pets. You can ask your local greenhouse, search online, or reference a book. If you have pets and kids, you will want to bypass our English ivy plant recommendation.
— Wiping the leaves with a damp cloth once per week keeps them dust free and improves their air purifying performance.
— The flowering plants that are fragrant can bring oxygen as well as a scent that helps you relax or sleep, however, this may cause some discomfort for those who are sensitive, so keep that in mind.
Plants That Clean The Air
We’ve chosen a few clean air plants to highlight below, in alphabetical order.
Aloe Vera
This plant is easy to care for and requires little watering, doesn’t shed a bunch of leaves, and is one of the best air purifying houseplants available. Aloe vera releases oxygen into the air at night, so it’s perfect for the bedroom. It also filters hazardous toxins and produces something that helps your immune system as well.
Areca Palm
If you have the motivation and a bright, indoor space to try a beautiful palm, try the areca palm. It sucks up toxins and releases moisture, but can be tricky to maintain.
Baby Rubber
This bush-like indoor plant is fun to work with. It cleans the air of formaldehyde and other toxins and emits a lot of oxygen.
Bamboo Palm
By far one of the best air purifying plants, this darling is supposed to bring you luck but also removes respiratory problem-inducing chemicals (trichloroethylene and benzene) from your home. The bamboo palm requires little water and grows well in shade or in indirect sunlight, making it almost the perfect houseplant for everyone.
Boston Fern
Very popular, but can be quite messy. If you’re motivated, these are a wonderful addition to your home.
Chinese Evergreen
Beautiful, fantastic air purifiers, and great for beginners!
Ficus Alii
This hybrid that’s not found in the great outdoors, is an indoor tree, growing up to 10′ high. Great for purifying your air from toxins such as trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, and benzene.
Gerbera Daisy
(flowering, not very fragrant)
Gorgeous, fun, flirty, colorful flowers bring joy and air cleansing to your everyday.
Mass Cane (Corn Plant)
This unique plant requires low light so it can be perfect for darker rooms with little natural light like some kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, hallways, etc. It filters formaldehyde from the air.
Peace Lily
(flowering, but not fragrant)
The peace lily plant filters harmful toxins, impurities and airborne microbes from the air while looking stunning as it flowers.
Pygmy Date Palm
A gorgeous fine feather leaf palm tree that grows slowly in containers and lower light levels, all the while beautifying a large space in your home and helping to purify the air.
Spider Plant
This is an incredibly popular plant for the home, available to buy almost everywhere, easily maintained, and comes with one of the highest ratings for air purifying. Perfect! Spider plants filter out harmful things in your home like benzene, xylene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide.
Plants That Increase Oxygen Levels And Relaxation In Your Home
We’ve chosen a few plants that bring more oxygen into your home to highlight below, in alphabetical order.
Aloe Vera
(See list above)
Baby Rubber
(See list above)
Bamboo Palm
(See list above)
English Ivy Plant
This is a popular and hardy plant for the home that doesn’t require a lot of light. It purifies things from the air that cause problems for allergy and asthma sufferers, so it’s great for the bedroom.
Gardenia
(flowering)
Gardenia has quite an impact if you’re looking for a sedative quality in your houseplant. However, the scent can be overwhelming for some, so give it a good whiff test at your local greenhouse before taking it home.
Honeysuckle
(flowering)
Generally grown as a climbing vine outdoors, you can grow a dwarf honeysuckle indoors in a large container on the floor.
Jasmine
(flowering)
Jasmine may increase the oxygen in your home but is generally most used for its intense fragrance that has both a seductive and sedative quality to it, drawing you in and reducing anxiety.
Lavender
(flowering)
Beautiful flowers with a wonderful, soothing fragrance. You might find it hard to keep this plant happy indoors, but you can always try it out in the spring or summer and plant it outdoors if it’s not thriving. The scent of lavender soothes babies and adults alike.
Peace Lily
(flowering, but not fragrant)
(See list above)
Pothos
Pothos is a family of vines that are easy to care for and don’t require a lot of light.
Rubber Tree Plant
Most of us have seen fake rubber trees in a waiting room somewhere, but if you’re going for something ornamental, you might as well get the health benefits by using a real, live plant! Your rubber tree plant cleanses the formaldehyde from your home and looks gorgeous.
Snake Plant
Another perfect plant for indoors, the snake plant is a succulent that requires little care but boasts a high rating from NASA for air purification. This plant releases oxygen at night, purifies during the day, and the look is a wonderful aesthetic in many rooms. Even better, it requires less light than most.
Spider Plant
(See list above)
Valerian
(flowering)
Unfortunately, this perennial herb doesn’t flower all year, but when Summer comes, the fragrance from its white, red or pink flowers is a calming vanilla. Valerian root is used by herbalists to treat anxiety, insomnia, and more.
Keep Your Home Clean But Green
The following list was pulled together from both lists above. It’s possibly the best of both worlds! Keep your air clean AND have a plant that’s easy to maintain.
Aloe Vera (succulent, requires little water)
Baby Rubber
Bamboo Palm (requires little water)
Pothos
Rubber Tree Plant
Snake Plant (succulent, requires little water)
Spider Plant
For more home tips and house cleaning tips visit our blog.
