These are the three maintenance objections that come up before almost every artificial plant purchase, and the honest answers are: yes, slowly, and no with one caveat. Eververda sells artificial trees, so we have an interest in the answers, which is exactly why we would rather give you the accurate versions than the flattering ones. Here is each objection on its own terms.
Do artificial plants get dusty?
Yes. Artificial foliage collects dust the way every other surface in your home does: the shelves, the lampshades, the tops of picture frames. There is no version of an indoor object that opts out of dust, and any listing implying otherwise is describing a product that does not exist. What matters is that the job is small and predictable. Real plants need water on the plant's schedule; artificial plants need dusting on yours.
The realistic cadence is a light dust every few weeks and a deeper clean occasionally, when the leaves start to look dull rather than on any fixed date. For the light pass, a dry or slightly damp microfibre cloth over the leaves is all it takes, and a feather duster handles a full canopy quickly. For the deeper clean, method follows material. Silk foliage, meaning fabric leaves, gets a damp microfibre cloth worked leaf by leaf, never a soaking, because fabric holds water. All-plastic foliage can take a gentle rinse under the shower when the maker's materials allow it, which is faster than any cloth for a dense canopy.
That last clause is why published specifications matter more than they first appear to. You can only choose the right cleaning method if you know what the foliage is made of, and this is one reason we publish materials on every listing. The 4 to 6 ft olive with PE foliage and stainless-steel branches, at $199 to $329 CAD, is listed as PE precisely so you know a rinse is on the table; the 5.25 to 8 ft silk olive at $249 to $449 CAD is listed as silk precisely so you know it is a cloth job. A listing that never names the foliage material leaves you guessing at both the look and the care.
Do artificial plants fade?
In strong sunlight, yes, eventually, and we have already put that in writing. Our position, stated in our guide to putting artificial trees outside, is that UV protection slows fading rather than stopping it: sunlight degrades pigment and polymer, and stabilisation stretches the timescale from a single season to years rather than switching the process off. A seller claiming their foliage never fades is telling you about their marketing, not their material.
Indoors, the same physics applies at a far gentler dose, and placement does most of the protective work. Keep an artificial plant out of harsh all-day direct sun, the way you would position it anyway to look believable: a bright spot near a window rather than pressed against south-facing glass in full afternoon light. Positioned like that, colour is a slow-moving concern rather than a live one. There is also a maintenance angle people miss: a film of dust dulls colour long before sunlight does, so a plant that looks like it is fading often just needs the cloth.
Outdoors is a different exposure class with its own rules about materials, anchoring and drainage, and it is the one place foliage should be UV-rated before you buy, the way the 5 to 6 ft palm with UV-resistant fronds at $219 to $289 CAD is built and labelled. The outdoor guide covers all of it; we will not repeat it here.
Do artificial plants attract insects?
No, and this is the genuinely good news of the three. Plant pests live on plants: they need soil to breed in, sap to feed on, and living tissue to colonise. Artificial foliage offers none of that. There is no soil, no sap, no moisture cycle, nothing for a plant pest to eat or lay into, which is precisely why artificial planting is standard in restaurants, where soil near food is a problem, and in offices, where nobody wants to manage an infestation above the desks. Swapping a struggling real plant for an artificial one removes a pest habitat from the room; it does not add one.
The one honest caveat is not about plant pests at all. Any surface that gathers dust and is never cleaned can shelter the ordinary dust-loving critters of a household, the same way undisturbed curtains, carpet edges and bookshelf tops can. The plant is not attracting anything; neglect is. And the remedy is the habit you already have from the first section: the every-few-weeks dusting pass that keeps the foliage looking sharp also keeps it from becoming another undisturbed surface. One habit covers both.
What does the maintenance actually add up to?
Put the three objections side by side and a pattern shows: each one is real, each one is smaller than the objection suggests, and each one is handled by a habit rather than a project.
| Objection | The reality | The habit that handles it |
|---|---|---|
| They get dusty | Yes, like every surface in the home | A light dust every few weeks; occasionally a damp microfibre cloth leaf by leaf for silk, or a gentle rinse where the listed material allows it |
| They fade | UV protection slows fading rather than stopping it; indoors the dose is far gentler | Keep the plant out of harsh all-day direct sun; check for a UV rating before any outdoor placement |
| They attract insects | Nothing for plant pests to live on: no soil, no sap, no moisture | The same dusting pass, so the foliage never becomes an undisturbed surface, as with curtains |
Compare that column of habits with a watering schedule, a fertilising calendar, a pest inspection and a plant sitter for every holiday, and the maintenance objection largely argues for the artificial plant rather than against it. The honest framing is not that artificial plants need no care; it is that they need a small, predictable amount, entirely on your schedule.
Frequently asked questions
How often should you clean fake plants?
A light dust every few weeks, with a dry or slightly damp microfibre cloth or a feather duster, and a deeper clean occasionally, when the leaves look dull rather than on a fixed date. Dust is also the first thing to check if a plant seems to be losing colour, because a dust film dulls foliage long before sunlight does.
Can you wash an artificial plant in the shower?
Only if the foliage is all plastic and the maker's materials allow it; a gentle rinse is then the fastest way to deep-clean a dense canopy. Silk foliage, meaning fabric leaves, should never be soaked, because fabric holds water. It gets a damp microfibre cloth worked leaf by leaf instead. This is why a listing that names the foliage material is worth choosing: the material tells you the method.
Why is my artificial plant losing its colour?
Two causes, in order of likelihood. First, dust: a film of it dulls foliage and wipes off with a microfibre cloth, so clean before you diagnose. Second, sunlight: strong direct sun degrades pigment over time, and UV protection slows that rather than stopping it. If the plant sits in harsh all-day sun, move it to a bright spot out of direct light.
Are artificial plants good for restaurants and offices?
Yes, and pest logic is a large part of why. Artificial foliage has no soil, sap or moisture, so it cannot host plant pests, which matters wherever soil near food is a problem or nobody is available to water and inspect. It also needs no light, so it works in windowless corridors and deep floor plates where living planting was never an option.
Do fake plants wear out?
They do not die, and the wear they do accumulate is cosmetic and slow: dust, which cleaning reverses, and colour loss in strong sun, which placement prevents. Kept dusted and out of harsh all-day light, an indoor artificial plant carries on looking the way it did when shaped. Outdoors is a harder exposure class with its own rules about UV-rated materials and drainage.
The maintenance objections, in other words, come down to a cloth every few weeks and a sensible spot in the room. Whether an artificial plant will look good enough to justify even that small effort is a fair question with a longer answer: are artificial plants tacky covers what separates the convincing ones from the rest, and what makes an artificial tree look real covers the specifications to check before you buy.
Eververda prices are CAD and current as of 29 August 2026.