7 Best Indoor Plants to Filter your Air

This post may have affiliate links. If you click one of these links and make a purchase, we will be paid a commission at no additional cost to you.

My Father-in-Law sent me a basket of plants for last Valentine’s Day.

This basket had two plants that are known for their air purifying abilities – Nerve Plant and a Peace Lily.

It’s kind of a coincidence that he sent this, as I had started to research which plants were good at filtering the air just before this.

I was wanting to add some air cleaning plants to our house.

Part of having a clean home is having clean air in your house.

While cleaning the air isn’t an act you can physically do, there are steps you can take to make your air cleaner.

One of these is having plants that are good at filtering the air inside your house.

All plants have the ability to clean and purify the air some, but some plants are better cleaners than others.

Here is a list of some of the best indoor plants to filter the air in your home.

1. Nerve Plant or Mosaic Plant

This little beauty has variegated leaves that are either green and white or green and pink.

The nerve plant doesn’t like direct sunlight but prefers a lightly shaded or bright location.

When watering, water thoroughly, making sure not to let it sit in water.

Let the soil become dry to the touch in between waterings.

It’s effective at reducing benzene, toluene, and trichloroethylene.

You can find out more information about this plant and purchase it here.

2. Peace Lily

Peace lilies have beautiful white flowers, with large green leaves.

The peace lily is similar to the nerve plant, where you want to let the soil become dry to the touch between waterings and it doesn’t like direct sunlight.

These are great for removing formaldehyde, xylene, toluene and ammonia.

The Peace Lily is toxic, so be careful if you have pets or kids.

You can purchase this here.

3. Mother in Law’s Tongue or Snake Plant

Just the name alone is reason enough to get it.  haha.

I personally love things that are a little different and this plant fits the bill.

It is a very hardy plant that you will have a hard time killing.

It can do well in bright light as well as dim light.

I have one of these plants and it has done amazingly great.

I’m not the greatest at watering indoor plants consistently – seems like if I water them a lot I kill them, but then if I space out watering, it becomes easy to forget to water them at all.

My other plants will start to droop if I don’t water them often enough – this plant still looks perfectly healthy if it’s been longer than it should have between waterings.

Perfect for those of us who don’t have a green thumb.

The snake plant is good for removing formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, toluene, and ammonia.

At night the snake plant is also great for consuming carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, so it’s a great plant to add to your bedroom.

Beware that this plant is toxic.

To purchase one of these, go here.

4. Parlor Palm

The parlor palm is a beautiful green leafy plant.

It is easy to grow and should produce small flowers.

Most of the time the flowers are white.

Great at removing formaldehyde.

You can purchase a parlor palm to help purify your air here.

5. Spider Plant

I remember reading a book as a child.

I don’t remember the name of it, but it talked about a teacher who had a spider plant in her classroom.

The kids in her class learned about the spider plant and at the end of each year the kids were all able to take a baby spider plant home with them.

I thought that was such a neat idea and it made me want to know more about the spider plant.

Spider plants have beautiful long, green (or varigated) leafs.

The spider plant is good for removing xylene, toluene, and formaldehyde.

Also, beware that this plant is toxic to pets and children.

You can find these here.

6. Pothos

The pothos is beautiful.  It’s kind of a trailing plant, so the leaves tend to droop over the side.

This makes it great to plant in a hanging pot.

The pothos is great for removing formaldehyde from the air.

5. Red-Edged Dracaena

This beautiful, wild looking plant is a red-edged dracaena.

It’s also called a Madagascar Dragon Tree.  I love all the names plants have.

Some of them are so unusual and when you look at the plant you can totally see why it was named how it was.

The dracaena is great for removing xylene, trichloroethylene, benzene and formaldehyde.

You can find one of these here.

6. Aloe Vera

I’ve almost always had an aloe plant growing in my house.

It’s great for burns.

My Grandma used to have a huge one in the corner of her dining room and I remember he breaking a leaf to get all the goodness out of it whenever anyone scraped their knees while at her house.

This beautiful succulent is great for reducing benzene and formaldehyde.

Find some aloe plants here.

7. Rubber Plant

Last, but not least in the rubber plant.  These are beautiful green plants with fairly large leaves.

The rubber plant is good for removing formaldehyde.

You can find rubber plants here.

It is recommended to add 1 plant per 100sqft in your home.

So make sure to add some of these plants to your house for better quality air.

Sources:

http://www.sloatgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Houseplants-Clean-Air-handout_2012.pdf