How to Clean Fake Plants

You can ‘dust’ fake plants with a can of compressed air, the kind you use to clean out a computer. The long tube on the can lets you dust hard to reach parts of flower arrangements without disarranging the flowers.

If you have plastic or cheap cloth flowers (don’t try it with silk!), use the washing machine to clean them when they get dingy. Put the flowers into a pillow case, fold the open top of the case over like you were folding a bag closed and use safety pins to keep it shut, then wash in cold water on gentle with no detergent. Air dry the flowers upright in a vase, and reshape them if needed while they’re still wet.

I’ve tried it all, and the best and easiest way, although not the cheapest, is to get a can of silk flower cleaner. You just spray it on and the dust disappears.

If your fake plants or flowers have paper-wrapped stems, you absolutely can’t clean them with anything liquid. Period. Ever.

Ditto for plastic or cloth flowers that have been painted to make them look prettier. Brush the dust off with something soft, like a makeup brush, and try to put the arrangement someplace where it won’t get too dirty.

I had a neighbor who used to do this to clean fake flowers. Put equal amounts of cornmeal and salt, say half a cup or so each, into a bag, put the flowers in the bag, and then shake the bag gently for a couple of minutes. Supposedly this gets off all the dust and won’t damage expensive silk flowers.

Dad once threw our old fake Christmas tree in the back of his truck and then went through the local car wash with it. It was weird, and the tree lost some plastic needles, but it was a lot cleaner!

Spray leaves with Lysol till wet. Let dry—dust gone!