Cleaning Office Plants – A Job For You Or The Cleaning Service?
Posted on: 20 May 2015
Plants in an office setting can create a friendlier and more welcoming environment. Unfortunately, those plants that can be so beneficial can also bring on more cleaning tasks. If you have plants around your office, you have two options: pay the additional fee to have your commercial cleaners tend to the cleaning, or do the cleaning yourself. Here, you will learn how to properly clean indoor plants, so you can determine if you have the time to spend doing the work, or if it is best left to the professional cleaning staff.
Regular Dusting
To help reduce the number of times you have to deep clean the plants, regular dusting should be done. Use a feather duster to gently remove the dust that has settled on the leaves. To reduce the negative effects of dust becoming airborne in your office, take the plants outside when you dust them. This will make the dusting more efficient because the dust will blow away in the wind instead of settling back on the surfaces in the office and back on the leaves of the plants.
Natural Cleaning
When you get reports that rain is coming, load the plants on a cart and take them outside. Let the rain do the work for you. After the rain has passed, let the plants sit out in the sun for a little while to dry some of the excess moisture from the leaves. Wipe the bottoms of the planters and bring them back into the office.
Hand Cleaning
The method you use to clean the plants by hand will vary by plant type. Generally, there are two different methods – one for hairless leaves and one for hairy leaves.
- Hairless Leaves – To clean plants that don't have small hairs on their leaves, get a clean tube sock and put your hand inside like it's a puppet. Use a spray bottle filled with water to spritz the leaves, and then use the sock to wipe each leaf clean. Leaves that are shiny could use a quick buffing using a second dry sock.
- Hairy Leaves – To clean plants with hairy leaves, use a makeup brush, like a blush-brush, to remove the dust from the leaves. Once the dust has been removed, use a clean sponge and a bucket of water to clean the leaves. Get the sponge wet and wipe each leaf very gently, supporting the leaf from the underside as you wipe it.
Keeping your office plants clean can be a time consuming task, but it will keep them healthy and beautiful for a very long time. If you don't have the time or desire to do this yourself, inquire with your commercial cleaning company to learn if they would perform this service for you.
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