Breathe Easy: How to Purify the Air with 8 Indoor Plants

Have you ever felt the need to open a window and get some fresh air inside your home? All too often, stagnant indoor air allows pollutants to build up and stick around, causing us to breath more toxins than we should be. There’s good news, though! A Clean Air study by NASA found that certain indoor plants removed benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene and ammonia from the air. These are all chemicals that have been linked to health effects like headaches and eye irritation.

If you want an easy and effective way to clean up the air in your home, office or anywhere else you spend your time, here are eight NASA-approved indoor plants that purify the air you breathe and are also easy to manage and take care of.

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The 8 Best Indoor Plants to Purify Air

(Selection may vary by location)

Garden Mum

In the NASA study, this plant was an air-purifying star, removing ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde, and xylene from indoor air. Popular and inexpensive, they can be planted outside after they're finished blooming.

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Spider Plant

Spider plants are one of the easiest houseplants to grow, making them a great choice for beginners or forgetful owners. They are fans of bright, indirect sunlight; spider plants will send out shoots with flowers that eventually grow into baby spider plants.

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Dracaena

There are more than 40 different kinds of Dracaena plants, making it easy to find one that’s a perfect fit for your home or office. They're common foliage plants with long, wide leaves that are often variegated with lines of white, cream, or red. Just a warning: this plant is toxic to cats and dogs.

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Ficus

Though the ficus is a tree native to southeast Asia, when it grows indoors, it's a surprising plant that ends up being anywhere from two and 10 feet tall. Grow this low-maintenance houseplant in bright, indirect light and allow the soil to dry out between watering.

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Peace Lily

Peace lily plants are relatively small compared to many of the plants on this list, but they still pack strong air-cleaning abilities. Easy to grow, these indoor plants will flower for much of the summer. Just be aware that these flowers contribute some pollen and floral scents to the air, so you may want to avoid having a room full of them.

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Boston Fern

These plants prefer to clean the air from a cool location with high humidity and indirect light. They're relatively easy to grow, but they do need to stay moist. Check the Boston Fern’s soil daily to see if it needs water, and give it a good soak once per month.

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Snake Plant

This is one of the hardest houseplants to kill. Although it does need to be watered occasionally, the Snake Plant generally prefers drier conditions and some sun.

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Bamboo Palm

This plant is great at filtering formaldehyde. Their palms thrive in full sun or bright light. Part of the reason they can filter so much air is that they can grow quite large, as tall as four to 12 feet high, making them stunning indoor additions. If you think your room could use some purified air, these eight plants are perfect additions to your home; even NASA supports this! Visit our store to find plants that will help you clean up the air in your home and remove toxins.