Anyone have any ideas on how to clean artificial plants, flowers?
Posted By: Nancee on 2007-05-17
In Reply to:
I do have the real things in my home but in the bedroom I have several plants and/or flowers that really need a good dusting. I do not think I should put them under water. I would rather have the real plants all over the house but have to be careful of some because of my furkids. Thanks!
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How do you clean artificial plants? (sm)
Seriously - the green ones (not flowers) how do you get the dust off of them? LOL
IGood smelling plants/flowers?
I love nice smell! I have loads of green plants in my home but would like to have ideas of something I can have on a regular basis inside that gives off a nice fragance. I do not have a clue as to what to buy and I would really like to know of something that would not require too much care. I can do the plants but do not have much of a green thumb. Thanks!
Artificial tree
My MIL has a table top artificial tree that she decorated around 10 years ago. At the end of each holiday season, she covers it with a sheet and puts in the back of the closet. I don't know if the lights even work anymore or if she changed them at some point. It is just really funny every year when we get it out of the closet, take off the sheet, and voila! grammy is ready for another xmas.
Artificial, unfortunately. Would love a real one but
nm
This will be the first year I might buy an artificial tree
with lights because I'm tired of fighting with the lights every year (both putting on and taking off) and I'm also sick of the mess of pine needles the real tree leaves as it dries out. Also my pets seem to like to drink the water in the tree stand which makes them quite ill - too much bother all around. Lastly - cost! Trees around here are $40 and up for a decent one.
What I noticed, not the artificial leg movement but
even her upper arm movements were so stiff, like a robot. Not only is she unpopular with most in real life, do not see her staying long on this dancing program.
With artificial soap and water??
s
We've just used an artificial table-top tree
since getting the dogs. Two of my close relatives have terrible allergies to Christmas trees, and my allergies have been decreasing for years. I wouldn't want to do anything that might get them going again. Plus one of my dogs has inhalant allergies, so it might mess her up too. I believe I read that the growers are spraying something on the trees now that many people are sensitive to. I don't know if it's a fire retardant or something that keeps the needles on longer. I read it a few years ago.
Artificial only for us - I'm allergic to "real" trees.
.
Our pediatrician advised against artificial sweeteners. sm
He said the long-term effects on children are not known. I don't let mine have any.
Flowers
I've had several close people die and frankly everyone bringing food is a good thought but we had to go to shelters to get rid of a lot of it.
Flowers for you!
Hi Hayseed!
I don't have your email address anymore, so I will send you to see flowers I chose for you! Have a great day! Hope this works.
Thank you for all your help in the past. I really appreciated it!
http://www.800florals.com/virtual2/0121V.htm
POLL: Real or artificial Christmas tree in your house?
Two years ago we bought an artificial Christmas tree and we absolutely love it. We finally got tired of paying upwards of $100 for a dead tree that was dried out in two weeks. We got a good deal on ours and I have to say we have really enjoyed it. It's 10 feet tall which we could never afford to buy a 10 footer every year. I do miss the nice smell of a real tree, though. We put it up today...that's another nice thing: you can put it up early and not worry about it drying out before Christmas.
Plants
Put a plant on it! If it is big, a large fern ought to do it!
Oh you're killin' me with those flowers!
Man, it's gonna be weeks before we even see a hint of green, as first we have to go through "mud season" up here. April showers usually follow March's snow melt and boy oh boy is it a mess! I do think my pussy willows are about to come into bud and that's always a treat :) Usually it starts really greening up in May, but no one dares go outside to confirm it because of the friggin' black flies!
 Ah, gotta love New England!
I planted flowers! Too bad we were supposed
to be buying grass seed. We completely forgot the grass seed, and bought impatiens and flowering ground covers and tall blue flowering plants and some purple accent plants. Got some dirt too, and got on the road and said GRASS SEED?!!
I got the impatiens in, moved a dwarf hydranga that has never flowerered where it it is, and a put in a few other flowers and it started sprinkling and getting dark, so I had to come inside.
It was fun playing in the dirt again. But it's grass we need to make our yard look better. It's just not as fun as FLOWERS! http://forum.mtstars.com/smileys/cutelaugh.gif
I have no clue as to what type the flowers are
just know they are a beautiful shade of purple, hopefully still are. I just brought some English ivy back from his home and plan on planting that in something containable because would not put outside to run. Also, get this, I will have flowers galore when I finish. I am going to get some of his purple iris when they lose their bloom (which is July or the next 2 months) but I have places to put those out at my home. Just wish I could bring 1 of his big ole magnolia trees home. By the way south Georgia but do not know my zone- have seen on a planting map before but just not sure right now. My hydrangea, by the way, has bloomed big at the bottom of the plant but last years limbs are just dead- is this what they normally do? I really babied this plant, put covers over it when had some early frost so have really tried with it.
Do you mean cut flowers to bring inside,
or do you want an inside plant that blooms?
I am an outside gardener myself. If it's outside flowers you are interested, where do you live or what is your zone?
Late summer flowers
Maine is probably in the same zone as Siberia, so these may not work for you in Indiana.
My garden is now finally in full bloom, though we have not had the heat like the rest of the country and every day starts with fog. It is a very pleasant 75 degrees here right now and sunny.
Perennials currently blooming: Tall phlox, Rose of Sharon, butterfly bush, day lilies, yellow roses. Asters are loaded with buds. I put my indoor plants out for the summer and my Christmas cactus is huge and in full bloom!
Annuals: Geraniums, pansies (they came back full force after 'resting' in late June/July), inpatients, cosmos, trailing licorice, sunflowers, petunias, Helio double-pinks, phlox.
I don't allow my husband to buy overpriced flowers...sm
that day. When we were engaged he made the mistake of ordering flowers and we'll just say it turned into quite an ordeal that before it was over with I ended up with 13 dozen roses and couldn't get them to stop sending them every day or 2 (he ordered 1 small arrangement without roses and it went crazy from there!).
We'll probably just grill some steaks and swap out small gifts, nothing extravagant.
Thank you - belated card and flowers to you :-) sm
I can't figure out why some people get treated well and others don't. I think maybe those of us who take care of others a lot are just taken for granted...I just don't know what it is. Thank you for caring!
all of those plants are pretty well known -
but how many flower arrangements have lillies - and I had never heard about that. So - no cut flowers either. Nope, he had never had any wet food in his entire life. The vet is still perplexed - we have done renal ultrasounds and blood work. His BUN and creatinines were off the charts. I frankly don't know how he is still alive at this point.
Me, too. My plastic plants die. nm
nm
They don't seem to bother my plants
at all. They do, however, ravage my birdfeeders this time of year and throughout the winter. I used to wage war against them but I've softened in my old age. Now I figure they need to eat and survive too so I just let them be.
Fertilize the plants with him. (NM)
NM
Bobbsey twins when lil and Flowers in the Attic
   
So, instead of carrying flowers down the aisle, didja
x
I got a vase of roses and other flowers mixed in ...sm
delivered from the local florist to my house. It was sweet.
The problem is that these drapes have pastelly pattern of flowers - sm
which I think is a beautiful pattern and at the time I had them made I figured she would not outgrow the pattern, but apparently she has. Now I have these really expensive drapes that I don't want to give up, but she is upset because she does not want them anymore. I thought if I could "paint" them or dye them with some other pattern, we could keep them and she and I would both be happy....[sigh]
Dull leaves on my household plants
Ok, I give up. What can you use to make the leaves shiny, mayonnaise or baby oil or just what? Thanks
For really big plants, I put cotton socks on my hands and just rub
s
I have heard you can apply hot pepper to plants
x
I can't keep plants alive, lucky my children are still living. nm
!
Can't give you any advice of keeping plants alive, I'm
lucky my children are still living. LOL!
Plants will attract gnats, as will ripe fruit.
If the gnats are congregated in one area, sticky bug cards will help catch them for you. Or you can kill them by spraying them directly with an ammonia-based cleaner like many glass-cleaning formulas.
Might be able to use fabric paint on some of the flowers and find a funky trim/border at a
s
You can grow tomato plants upside down from hanging pots, too.
s
Larege amount of horses at packing plants/feed lots
coincidentally happen to be TBs. They are a huge throw-away market. Once they are done racing, unless they are one of the incredibly lucky few to be adopted out to knowledgable homes for other careers or are of breeding quality, they usually don't wind up in too good of a place afterwards. I'm a nobody, and I've had 3 of these throw-aways land in my lap. Yes, there are some responsible owners/breeders who ensure these animals are taken care of for the rest of their days, racing career or not, then there are an awful lot of others who see them as the cash crops they are and nothing more.
Great shade plants are coleus, ferns, hostas, begonias
xx
Mr. Clean
Boy, do I have work for him!
I like clean but don't like to clean (sm)
My house is cluttered and it's hard to clean or dust. When I worked at home I would wash my hands every 5 minutes or so because I was always touching dust and the sink was so convenient. Now I work outside in the dirt and I go hours without being able to wash up. I hate touching trash cans without being able to wash, but I remind myself it's just potting mix and and plant material we put in there, so I try to convince myself it's okay, LOL. I do keep handiwipes on my golf cart to use after touching really stinky, rotten dead plants. There is usually a trace of dirt under my nails now - so weird. I have to shower twice a day when it's hot.
Getting towels clean
Anyone have any suggestions on how to get towels to smell clean again. I've tried various detergents, Borax, hot water, cold water, hanging to dry, dryer sheets and nothing seems to work. I wash my towels, we use them once or twice and they just don't smell fresh anymore. Also after we use them we hang them on a towel rack to let the fresh air dry them. My husband hates the bleach smell so don't use that.
I use OxyClean, but it's the clean
feeling and whiteness I notice. I only use my towels once and then wash them again, but DH uses them more than once.
Mine was also to clean out some but
I had an artificial plant, still had the price on it, for $24.99 and had priced at $9.00. I had a guy who walked up and said I only have $5.00 left in my wallet at which time I told him better keep it, hard times might be coming. You know, I had really priced everything so right, had a pair of women's leather sandles, never worn, just bought this summer and had paid over $50.00 for them, had marked for $7.00 and 1 lady offered me $4.00. I am not hard up and when I price things as good as these, they can sit there forever before I just hand them away- that is unless I want to and then I can take to Goodwill and get deduction. I am older and I really paid dearly for this in terms of wear and tear on me. It was hot, humid yesterday morning starting out and by the end of the sale my body had so many aches and pain and just pure exhausation. I made overall about $200.00 on it but after paying my housekeeper who came, spent the night and helped me the next day, I came out to the good about $60.00- not enough to wear me down again. I just spoke with hubs and any and everything left over I am donating to Goodwill (and getting that write-off at the same time).
I agree you clean up after yourself, but
to go "BALLISTIC" over it seems a bit much. Must be lots of other things going on.
Clean house
Almost forgot my other idea - to do as Neacy on Clean House and have the family sit down and make a list of the things that routinely get done around the house and assign tasks to each person.
clean your stove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH3tbQOJXd0&feature=related
425 degrees/15 min - toothpick comes clean
x
Does it clean the bottom of the shower/tub also?
nm
Yes, I do think not all people clean them each time
ask the ones who are on here. I would be willing to say that a lot let their cleaning go from time to time, maybe they are cooking the same food, say a hamburger or steak and think it is ok for another session. Does that apply to anyone out there?
Definitely clean the fan and the inside of the tower
Definitely need to clean out the inside of the tower, especially the fan. This gets clogged with dust over time and can eventually stop working and cause the computer to shut down and not boot back up. This can also cause damage to the motherboard and, if this happens, you're looking at getting a new computer. It is never a good idea to store a computer tower inside of a desk. They never have enough ventilation in there, even if it seems like they do. Computers work best where the temperature is much cooler.
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