Bring Fresh Air Indoors: 14 Air Purifying Plants for the Home

Bringing plants and greenery into the home can be so much so more than just a decorative element. When chosen correctly, your beautiful plants will also serve as an all-natural air purifier, ridding the home of harmful toxins and chemicals. We’ve gathered 14 air purifying plants that are perfect to use indoors – for both aesthetic and clean air!

Bamboo Palm

The Bamboo Palm is air-purifying and gives a tropical feel to any space it occupies. This bold plant thrives in indirect sunlight and moist soil, meaning it’s perfect for those of you who have the time and patience to keep it alive!

The bamboo palm removes benzene and trichloroethylene chemicals from the air.

Fiddle Leaf Fig

The Fiddle Leaf Fig prefers warm, humid, and tropical places – perfect for indoors! To keep this plant happy, misting it when it needs rejuvenation is crucial. Place the fiddle leaf fig in a bright spot in your home, as they require full sun and moist soil. The fiddle leaf fig is one of the most beautiful indoor house plants and has gained popularity over the years, commonly used in Feng Shui!

Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, the fiddle leaf fig is known to filter out allergens and provide oxygen into the room!

Snake Plant

The Snake Plant is probably the best plant for those of you who would describe yourselves as “not having a green thumb.” It thrives in high-light environments but can survive in low light as well. It’s known to survive droughts so it’s undoubtably hard to kill this one.

Snake plants have also been shown to turn CO2 into oxygen at night, making it perfect for any room in your home. Benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, and toluene are other chemicals the snake plant is known the filter out of the air!

Not Pet Friendly.

Swiss Cheese Plant

These plants are seen everywhere for good reason. Not only do they give any space a dramatic, tropical look, but they’re extremely easy to grow. Once you grow them, they don’t stop! Watering them once every one to two weeks is all this plant needs to thrive. This plant can be placed anywhere since it only needs bright to medium indirect light.

The Swiss cheese plant, or monstera deliciosa, reduces air pollutants such as benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde, making it an asset to your home and the air you breathe!

Not Pet Friendly

Devil’s Ivy

Devil’s Ivy, or the pothos plant, is one of my favorite plants to use in homes! Don’t let its small starting size fool you, the pothos plant has a lot more to offer. It can grow over ten feet long in length and, when done right, can transform into many more plants!

A clean air study by NASA proves that the pothos plant filters benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene, much like the snake plant. Pothos plants are great air-purifying plants.

Not Pet Friendly.

Boston Fern

This gorgeous houseplant is another low maintenance option requiring indirect sunlight and warm, moist soil. The Boston fern prefers a humid climate, so if placed in a room where it starts to brown, just place it in the bathroom while you shower to bring it back to life.

The Boston fern is known to naturally dehumidify a room, no loud fans needed!

Dragon Tree

Easily adaptable to different light environments and temperatures, the dracaena plant is another air-purifying plant that’s easily grown indoors. The dracaena plant can add a dramatic focal point to any area in your home that’s calling for a natural element of some sort!

It’s shown to remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and xylene from the surrounding air, making it one of the best air purifying plants.

Not Pet Friendly.

ZZ Plant

If you can see the theme emerging, these plants are all low pretty low maintenance, easy to grow, and look beautiful in your home! The zamioculcas zamiifolia, or commonly known as “ZZ plant,” is no different. If you’re in a lower light environment, this plant is perfect for you. Known to survive droughts, the ZZ plant only needs to be watered once a month during the growing season and once every two months while it’s dormant in the Winter months. Feel free to take that vacation and come back to a healthy, happy plant and purified air!

Dress up any room in your home with the ZZ plant while cleansing the air from harmful chemicals such as Toluene and Xylene.

Pet friendly?

Spider Plant

The Spider Plant is a popular indoor plant for many reasons, one being it’s long, falling leaves that can be propagated into smaller spider plants. To thrive, this plant needs to be in bright sunlight but not direct sunlight, making it perfect for a well-lit room with big windows.

The spider plant is a strong air purifier that removes formaldehyde and xylene from the surrounding air and gives off high levels of beta-carotene and vitamin C. It’s a great air purifier and antioxidant!

Pet Friendly.

Rubber Tree

Don’t be fooled by the name, the Rubber Tree is very much real, getting the name from the way the leaves look almost like rubber. This plant can endure a fair amount of neglect, making it perfect for people who tend to forget about their plants or live a busy, on-the-go life. Placed in bright light, the rubber tree plant will thrive! My favorite rooms to use this plant in are offices, bedrooms, and bathrooms.

The rubber tree is known for removing carbon dioxide from the home.

Not Pet Friendy.

Bird’s Nest Fern

Bird’s Nest Ferns are known for their edgy style, sure to make heads turn when placed in your home! This indirect sunlight plant prefers humid climates, which is why it’s not the most popular indoor plant. However, it’ll thrive in a bathroom where there’s steam from a shower and add a warm element to a more insignificant room.

Formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene are the chemicals it filters out of the air, making it one of the best air purifying plants.

Pet Friendly.

If you already have experience keeping an indoor plant alive (congrats), then it might be time to add a peace lily into the mix.  Vassilkioti says this one requires more attention compared to other indoor plants. That means keeping it moist without over-watering and placing it in a bright but shady spot, she explains. 

Peace Lily

The Peace Lily is one of the best air purifiers you can place in your home but requires a slight amount of more work. If you’re planning on purchasing this plant for your home, make sure you have the time and patience to keep it watered just enough to keep the soil moist. Also, keep in mind that if you have allergies, this plant might not be the best for you. If you notice your peace lily starting to droop, put it outside for a breath of fresh air!

The peace lily not only produces oxygen at night but also also removes ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene from the air.

Not Pet Friendly.

Baby Rubber Plant

The Philodendron Green, or the baby rubber plant is another favorite air purifying plant used indoors around the world. Known for their heart shaped leaves, the Pilodendron Green plant can grow up to ten feet long in length and is fairly easy to grow, making it a perfect choice for people who aren’t the best at growing indoors! This plant is perfect for hangers or bookshelves given its long vines but can also be trimmed if you prefer that look instead.

Philodendrons filter formaldehyde out of the air.

Not Pet Friendly.

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is a staple in most warmer-climate areas because it’s not only a great air-purifying plant, it has incredible healing powers. Known to treat burns with its anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, aloe plants are both useful and beautiful. This plant prefers bright lights and a very dry climate.

Aloe Vera, aside from its healing qualities, removes formaldehyde from the air.

Not Pet Friendly.

Did you know you can grow your own indoor garden with minimal effort?

I recently discovered and purchased my first smart garden by Click & Grow – it’s an all organic indoor garden that only requires water and electricity. Fruits, vegetables and herbs grow perfectly from their pods under the perfect amount of light. Read more about it here!