I have an 8-9 foot tall artificial ficus in our living room, and it needs to be cleaned/dusted. It has too many leaves to do each one individually. I'm not sure if hosing it off outside would be a good idea, but I've never tried it before. I was thinking maybe compressed air would work? Or maybe the brush attachment on the vacuum? How do you clean yours?
Thanks!
I take it outside and lay it sideways off of a step, spray it down with something like kitchen cleaner, then hose it off, shake it and let it stay outside for awhile. I always go out and give it a good shake every now and then to get off the excess water.
I take it outside on a sunny day use the "mist" setting on your hose nozzle and mist it off really well then let it dry in the sun
Drop it in the bathtub (sideways), rinse the leaves, wipe it damp dry, then stand it up to finishing drying.
Do you have one of those old school dusters? I think they are called the feather dusters. Those work really well because you can just swipe it and get one whole side at a time.
Have you tried a blow dryer set on the cool setting? First move it outside to your porch or deck. Then, knock off and loosen dust with a duster--I like my ostrich feather duster. Then use the blow dryer to remove the rest of the dust..
If you feather duster is made of chicken feathers, walk directly to your waste basket and drop it in. All those cheap feather dusters do is move the dust around.
Hugs,
M. P
My Hearts at Home
dusting doesn't seem to do a sufficiently good job. it needs a shower! i would take it outside, mist it thoroughly with a hose, then let it dry in the sun, maybe doing a half-assed job of drying some of the leaves with a cloth.
khairete
S.
Rachel:
Good morning!!! We have a artificial tree - I put a trash bag at the bottom and take it outside and hose it off - for me - it's a two person job - someone holds the tree and the other hoses it off..I ONLY hose off the top where the leaves are...
I wash my indoor plants with the hose but I try only get the leaves. You could put a trashbag over the pot/basket it's in. Then I leave outside to dry.
I use a bottle of cleaner that is located near the artificial flowers and plants at Walmart. You just spray it on and takes care of it. I learned that trick from a florist in the area...
Yikes! You would hate my way..about once a month I would grab a box of wipes, sit down in front of the TV and wipe each leaf down. Throughout the rest of the month I would just swiffer it w/a little Endust sprayed on the 'feathers".
What a coincidence! I'm so glad you asked this question ... I have the exact same problem, and DH and I have been debating the best way to get the dust off, if there is one. Thanks for the great suggestions.
=)
I always mist and wipe each leaf off. It really is the only way.
Vacuuming only gets so much off if it hasn't been done in a while.
I put the smaller plants in the shower or turn them up and nozzle them off.
It takes a while, but a good, wet rag really is the best for getting the leaves clean.
Just my opinion.
I haven't done this but my aunt who is very much a neat freak takes hers outside and just uses a hair dryer on it. I would imagine though this would only work if you keep up with it. After a certain point, I don't know if it woul be effective. Good luck!!
My mom used to use the vaccumm attachments and then afterwards spray pledge on them monthly she said the pledge makes the dust come off better the next time. Not sure if it works or not but that is what she did and she had a TON of fake plants
