How to clean houseplant leaves, and why it matters

January 21, 2025

A houseplant that has gone dull and flat looking has often just got a film of dust on it. Leaves are how a plant collects light, and a layer of household dust sitting on that surface cuts down how much gets through, so cleaning them is closer to maintenance than to housework. It also gives you a proper look at the undersides, which is where pests turn up long before you notice them anywhere else.

What you need

A soft lint free cloth, or a microfibre cloth
Lukewarm water
A drop of mild soap, only for the grimy ones
A soft brush for anything with fuzzy leaves

How to do it

Dust first. Run a dry cloth over each leaf to take the loose surface layer off before any water goes near it.
Wipe with a damp cloth. Dip the cloth, wring it out well so it is damp rather than wet, and support the leaf from underneath with one hand while you wipe the top with the other. Leaves snap at the stem more easily than you would think.
Do the undersides. This is the half everybody skips and it is where scale, mites and mealybugs live.
Soap only if you need it. A single drop of mild soap in a bowl of water shifts kitchen grease and sticky residue. Follow it with a plain water wipe so nothing is left sitting on the leaf.
Fuzzy leaves get a brush. African violets and anything with velvety leaves mark if they get wet, so a soft brush is the answer and water is not.

The shower method for big plants

A large monstera or a fiddle leaf fig has too many leaves to do one at a time. Stand it in the shower or out in the garden and give it a gentle lukewarm rinse, and make sure the water pressure is soft because a hard spray will tear leaves and wash the mix out of the pot. Let it drain properly and dry in a shaded spot before it goes back in its position, and never put a wet plant straight back into direct sun.

How often

A light dust every couple of weeks and a proper wipe once a month suits most houses. Somewhere dusty, or a kitchen where cooking puts a film on everything, needs it more often. The honest test is to run a finger across a leaf, and if you can see the mark you left, it was due.

What you will find while you are in there

Cleaning leaves is the best pest check going, because you are handling every leaf and turning it over. What to look for:

Small brown bumps that do not brush off. Scale. They sit along the stems and the leaf veins and a horticultural oil will smother them.
Fine webbing and a stippled, speckled look to the leaf. Spider mites, which thrive in dry air, so a pebble tray helps as much as a spray does.
White cottony fluff in the leaf joints. Mealybugs. Dab them off and then treat the plant.
Anything sticky on the leaves or on the floor below. That is honeydew from sap suckers feeding above it, so look up.

Two things not to do

Do not clean leaves in direct sun, because water droplets on a leaf in full sun can mark it and the plant is already working hard in that heat. And leave the leaf shine products alone, because they coat the surface the plant needs for gas exchange, and a damp cloth gives you the same gloss without sealing anything up.

Shop related products

Brunnings White Oil RTU 1L. Ready to use, and it smothers scale on ornamentals rather than poisoning it.
Multicrop Pyrethrum Long Life Insect Spray 1L. A natural insecticide for aphids, thrips and whitefly if something has got a hold.
Maxicrop Indoor Plant Food Concentrate 250ml. Clean leaves work better, and a light feed through the warm months keeps them coming.
Seasol Seaweed Concentrate 600ml. Worth a dose on a plant that has been under pest pressure and needs to pick up.

Did you know we also stock the cleaning bits in the shop, including microfibre cloths, a 1 litre spray bottle for a soap solution, and gardening gloves for the prickly jobs. They are not on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

The plant food and the pest sprays are in the garden centre, and if you are not sure what you have found on a leaf, bring it in and we will have a look at it.

More from the garden

Wiping leaves is the most boring job in plant care and it is the one that shows up fastest, which is a fair trade. Ask me in the shop, I am usually there.

Cheers,
Candeece