10 Plants To Detox Your Home
May 19, 2019Plants add warmth, colour, presence and vibrancy to any space. Their stillness can help you to feel more heart-centred which can also positively affect your creative and mental performance.
Shamanic tradition reveres the physical, spiritual and emotional relations between the plant kingdom and man. The Secret Life of Plants, by Tompkins and Bird published numerous studies showing plants to be sentient and self-aware.
While any plant will help clean and purify indoor air, there are some varieties that work especially well at removing toxins and chemicals from their home environment.
1. Peace Lily
This beautiful looking plant is great for absorbing toxins. They can range in size and even the small ones can boast some air cleaning abilities. Peace Lily also helps in getting rid of any impurities and airborne microbes that could disturb your sleep.
2. Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is well known for its healing properties particularly for sunburn, and it is a wonderful air purifier. Aloe filters toxins from the air and gives you a warning if toxins are too high (brown spots on leaves). It lets out oxygen during the night, leaving you with fresher cleaner air for sleep time.
3. Fern
Boston-type ferns improve the air quality of indoor environments by absorbing formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, and toluene and reducing much of the house holds exposure to those nasty airborne chemicals.
4. Bamboo Palm
A superstar of filtering formaldehyde and removing trichloroethylene and benzene, two chemicals that are known to induce respiratory problems, thus a great air purifying plant. Part of the reason they can filter so much air is that they can grow to be pretty big making them exciting indoor additions.
5. Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)
With their beautiful thick leaves these plants can add an ambience to any room. Their large leaves can absorb airborne chemicals and break them down, rendering them harmless. Rubber plants may also help to eliminate bacteria and mould spores in the air.
6. Snake Plant – Mother-in-law’s Tongue
This is a great plant to keep in your bedroom because it’s particularly effective at producing oxygen in the evening. It will also remove pollutants such benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and xylene
7. Philodendron (philodendron sp.)
Philodendrons have been used as house plants for centuries. The heart leafed philodendron is a luscious addition to indoor spaces and helps to remove formaldehyde which can leach into the air from building and furniture materials.
8. Spider Plant
Spider plants are one of the most common indoor plants, and one of the most powerful when it comes to cleaning indoor air. Spider plant is capable of removing up to 90% of harmful formaldehyde in the air that surrounds them. Other than formaldehyde, they are also capable of filtering benzene, xylene, and carbon monoxide. No wonder it made it to NASA’s list of the most excellent air filtering plants
9. ‘Devils Ivy’ Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
Golden Pothos was rated one of the best houseplants for removing all indoor air toxins. In the NASA report it was one of the best all-around performers, removing 73% of benzene from a sealed experimental chamber in a 24-hour period (the fifth-best on the list) and 9.2% of Trichloroethylene (7th on the list). This plant was featured in a TED Talk by Kamal Meattle as one of the three essential plants for cleaning the air.
10. English Ivy
The English ivy plant is a leader when it comes to purifying air. It is also a very hardy plant and thrives in shade. Also, it is discovered to help those who suffer from allergy by purifying the air in its surroundings. With the air effectively purified, you are sure to have a healthier home.
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