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 Many people have been wise enough to invest in an artificial Xmas tree, but not too many think about cleaning it. Most owners of artificial Christmas trees will maximize their use of their tree and reuse it for ten years or more. Each time they set it up, just days after Thanksgiving, and keeping it up until a week or so after New Years Day. A lot of dust and grime from cooking debris can fly through the air and collect on all of the surfaces of an artificial Xmas tree. Also, spider webs can contribute to the collection of more dust. After taking down all of the indoor decorations, and pulling down the Christmas lights and other displays, it is certain that most will not feel motivated to take on another chore.
In the northern states and mountainous regions, cleaning your artificial Christmas tree outdoors is not the best time, but if your artificial Xmas tree is small, it can be easily rinsed off in your shower or bathtub. A word of warning, to avoid mold or rust, give your tree ample time to dry off before repackaging it and storing it for the next three seasons. You can hit it a few times with a hot hair dryer to help remove drips and add heat to the drying process. If you live in the south and happen to have a sunny day in January, the easiest approach is to hose it off outside and let it dry for a day on the back porch, or in your garage over a few old towels. It should dry rather quickly, but if you want to speed things up, turn your wet-dry vacuum on it with the hose attached blower orifice, or even turn on your leaf blower and hit it from all sides while standing about five feet away. Be careful not to damage the branches with excessive force from your hose or blowers. It doesn’t take a lot of pressure to remove dust. If you are trying to remove grime and oils that may have found their way to your tree over the year, use a car wash attachment that dispenses detergents. The same solvents that are made for your car are also ideal for artificial Xmas trees surfaces. The waxing products are not recommended, as they will tend to leave a film and collect between needles and other voids in the tree structure.
Another method that works well, for cleaning a fake Xmas tree, but is more labor intensive, is to simply use a damp cloth soaked in hot water and a cleaning solvent suitable for non-porous household surfaces. Wipe the branches wrapping the clothes around it and pulling gently so as to clean without removing needles. The cloth should be fairly light to have more control on the pressure. One of the best suggestions for this method are to leave the tree assembled with all the decorations removed. Also, center the tree in a room large enough to move about its circumference and finally place it over an appropriate surface to get wet, or spread towels from your dirty laundry basket under it if cleaning it over your carpet.
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