So you may have heard this already but plants actually can help keep the air in your home cleaner! They take a lot of the gross stuff in the air, do something with it and exchange it for clean good air. There is a ton of information on this if you just google but here is a link to an article from the 2009 Science Daily that reviews certain plants abilities to reduce the levels of Formaldehyde in your home. Formaldehyde is just one of the nasty chemicals that plants have been found to be able to remove from the air and help improve air quality in your home.
With all the time we spend in our homes it is so important to work to keep the air clean. Changing filters and air purifiers can help do this but so can some simple and fairly cheap plants! I compiled this list on a few different factors. The first and most important factor is that this plants are extremely hard to kill. Ya’ll I so badly want a green thumb but with children, jobs, animals and life I just do not have it. I also wanted the most important factor to be the plants that did the best job but I soon learned a dead plant doesn’t clean the air. I did use a variety of scientific articles that did studies on different types of plants and their ability to clean the air to ensure I was indeed getting varieties that clean your air.
This post contains affiliate links from Cellar Door Plants. They are an awesome small business started in a small town near Seattle, Washington. They donate monthly to a non-profit that plants trees to help restore forests! I love that their prices are amazing and sometimes even better than my local plant shops. They also include care tips, notes about plant safety for pets and kids and have a money back guarantee! Its a win-win-win!
Bamboo
This is number one in terms of easy to keep alive. I have 4 of these in my house they are easy to find in many stores, fairly cheap in price and truly so easy to care for. You do not need to know literally anything about plants to keep this bad boy alive ya’ll, I’m serious. Just fill the little basin with water and then when you don’t see water fill it again. You can forget about it for a while too, on accident but it still thrives. You also can take a few of the stalks out if they don’t make it. As far as cleaning the air the jury is out on this one. There are many sources online that state it does indeed clean the air but finding an actual research study with this specific species is challenging. At worst its beautiful, easy to care for and doesn’t do anything for air quality. At best its all those things but also keeps your air cleaner!
Golden Pothos
This is one recommended by a former Nasa scientist thanks to its ease to grow indoors and research showing it does indeed clean the air. This is another one that is super easy to find locally and can take quite a bit of absent mindedness in terms of care. I am currently working on growing my poor pothos back from one leave, and its up to 4 leaves already so that screams resilient! They also need very little light and basically “tell you” when to water them because their leaves start to droop!
Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata)
This is another one that was featured in the large Nasa study on plants ability to clean the air. It is also very easy to take care of. It does well in indirect sunlight and mine seems to love my weekly to biweekly watering schedule. It grows sturdy and tall which makes it a nice decoration in your home as well. The Nasa study showed it has the ability to remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene and toluene.
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
This was also featured on that same Nasa study because of its ability to remove a ton of toxins. This one is really pretty and grows very easily. It needs pretty little light and does well with my hit or miss weekly to biweekly watering system. It’s also easy to remove dead leaves should they arise because they usually occur on the outside so you can just peel them off. Again this is super easy to find at a local store and I’ve often seen it just labeled as foliage without the actual name but its fairly easy to spot.
ZZ Plant
I have two of these and they are very easy to care for and actually grow into larger plants. I feel like some of my plants just kinda hang out the same size but both of my zz plants multiply and grow with very little effort on my part. These are able to filter out xylene from the air and like all plants release oxygen. As with all plants there are a ton of varieties of these but my darker almost black leaved one does amazing! It was a bit harder to find than my average green on from an actual nursery but it was worth it. They do not need a lot of light or water.
Monstera Adansonii
So this is one that kind of like the lucky bamboo, there is conflicting data on. Some say that it does clean the air, and others say that it does not. Regardless it is really pretty and unique looking. It is also super easy to grow. Mine currently has 3 new leaves coming in which is very exciting (is it exciting, did I just type that?). This is one that I had a bit of a hard time finding and picked it up from a local nursery. I have not seen it in stores before so I don’t want you to run out to our local hardware store and wonder if you’ll stumble upon this one with ease!
A note on all of these, please check and read safety information on them. While they can be beautiful and healthy for your home, some can be toxic to humans and animals if ingested. I know the monstera is toxic to animals and the golden pothos is toxic to animals and humans. Be safe and keep plants up and out of reach if you’re unsure if your kids or pets may decide to taste them one day.
I have bought a TON of plants people so its safe to say I know good prices. The Cellar Door really does offer great prices and quality. If they aren’t running a sale you can use my code THEKINDANATURALMOM for 10% of your order. Easy peasy get air cleaning plants on your door step!
What plants do you have in your home? Are there any I should add that you’ve found super easy to care for? Also are yours a dusty as mine haha?