How to Purify Indoor Air with Plants

The indoor air that you breathe is polluted with harmful toxins; these toxins are derived from cleaning solvents, tobacco, paint, varnishes, and ammonia, paper and ink products.  If you suffer from watery eyes, runny nose and asthma related symptoms the indoor pollution may be making you ill.  You could purchase expensive air purifiers to run 24 hours a day or you could purchase low light plants to purify the indoor air.  Follow these tips and learn how to purify indoor air with plants.

Step 1

Survey your home to determine the amount of plants that will be needed to purify the air.  For large rooms such as the Den or living room you should add one large plant and two small plants, for your kitchen, and bedrooms you could scatter a few smaller plants or utilize medium size plants.  The plants that purify the air require low light or indirect light.  They will grow well under a floor lamp or table lamp. Take our list that shows the quantity of plants needed to your local nursery or garden store.

Step 2

Purchase the following air puffing plants; Philodendron, Areca Palm, English Ivy, Spider Plant, Peace Lily, and Boston Fern.’

Step 3

Set the philodendron, Boston fern or the spider plant on a plant stand that is close to indirect light or a lamp in your office or next to your computer.  These plants will purify your home by removing t the toxin formaldehyde which is found in paper products and cleaning products that have the formaldehyde ingredient.

Step 4

Hang the English ivy in an area of your home where there is tobacco.  The English ivy will naturally purify the air by removing tobacco smoke, chemicals and residue.   This plant would look attractive set on the top shelf of a bakers rack, or in front of a window. Set in a room where there is smoke from tobacco.

Step 5

Breathe easier with the Areca Palm.  The palm is a full tree and would look best in a large room tucked in a corner or in front of a window that offers indirect light. The attractive foliage will give the room an exotic appearance and the palm will remove the chemical trichloroethylene the chemical found in ink, paint, lacquer, and varnishes. Palm prefers a warm location that does not have drafts.

Step 6

Set the peace lily under a floor lamp or in a corner of a room. This plant is easy to grow, and prefers indirect light. The peace lily plant has large leaves with an exotic looking white flower. This plant will clean the air in your home by removing the chemical benzene.  This chemical is used in nail polish, paints and adhesives.

Tips:

When your home air is purified, you will notice that your family will be happier and healthier.  It takes 24 hours for the houseplants to filter the toxins from the air.

These plants fill the air with negative ions. The negative ions make people feel happy.  If there are positive plant ions in the air then people will feel sick.

Houseplants increase the humidity levels in the air and thus your skin in winter will not feel dry.

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Houseplants for Home and Business

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Comments (6)

paul said:

	... Thanks for the purifying tips!
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January 08, 2011
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jmarwayne said:

	... A lot of workplaces use plants among the cubicles to improve air quality for their employees. Thanks for the details!
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January 08, 2011
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Carl Benjamin said:

	... Plants can be very uplifting as well.
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January 09, 2011
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carmen357 said:

	... Great article just love it thanks for writting it!
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January 16, 2011
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tracysmith159 said:

	... What a great idea getting the air clean with some plants. Going to see if we can get a spider plant in our office, it may help keep everyone healthy. We have had a rough time of people getting sick.
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April 22, 2011
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bossypants said:

	... Great choices for natural air purifying plants! I have a Snake Plant (don't know it's correct name) that does a bang up job in my office. Know I know of more plants to use!
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July 30, 2011
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