How To Keep Your Indoor Plant Shelf Dry And Clean

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Having a plant shelf is more than just an efficient way to utilize vertical space in your home – it also serves as beautiful home décor and makes caring for your plants easy and efficient. A shelf is also an easy way to keep your precious plants out of the reach of pets and small children. But when your plant shelf is littered with dead leaves, soil, and dust, it becomes a major eyesore and can negatively affect the health of your plants as well. Developing an organized, regular shelf cleaning routine is a sure-fire way to keep your plant shelf looking vibrant and healthy.

However, keeping your shelf clean and dry with a good cleaning routine is more complicated than simply wiping it down once in a while. You will also need to consider how you group your plants and what small items you can add to your shelves to simplify each cleaning session. Knowing what type of cleaner to use is also important, so you don't end up ruining a perfectly good wooden shelf.

To get started, remove all the plants and décor items from your shelf. Then use an appropriate cleaner and a microfiber cloth to wipe dust and plant debris from each shelf. For wood shelves, a mixture of warm water and vinegar in a spray bottle will work, or you can try a plant-based hardwood cleaner. For glass or metal shelves, the water and vinegar mixture works great, or you can try a simple glass cleaning spray.

To keep your glass shelves clean moving forward, try grouping plants with similar needs and watering schedules on the same level. This way, every time you take them to the shower or yard for watering, you can give that shelf a quick wipe-down. Another trick is to line the very top of your shelf with a sheet of wax paper. The wax paper won't be visible, but it will keep your top shelf safe from the grime that tends to accumulate up there. Next time you do a full shelf clean, simply replace the wax paper and save yourself the hassle of trying to scrub grime buildup away.

Between deep cleaning sessions, there are a few tricks you can employ to keep your plant shelf in good order. Pruning dead leaves and regularly dusting your plants, for example, keeps things clean and helps prevent bugs from infesting your plants. Some plants are secret dust magnets and may need to be dusted or gently wiped daily. Placing saucers under each plant will help prevent too much plant dirt and debris from falling on the shelf as well.