Tidying up after your Christmas tree just became a breeze.
If you’ve opted for a real Christmas tree, you might have noticed a growing pile of needles beneath it over the past few weeks. Christmas trees are usually evergreen conifers like fir or pine trees, recognised for their unique needles that adorn the branches and give it that amazing festive look.
However, when these needles start to drop, they can be a nuisance to clean up. You may be tempted to use the vacuum cleaner to get rid of them – but this is a bad idea.
The sharp leaves can become lodged in the machine and cause damage. Instead, there’s a straightforward solution that you may already have in your kitchen cupboard.
Emily Barron, a cleaning guru at Property Rescue, cautioned against using a vacuum cleaner to tidy up fallen tree needles. Sharp leaves can become stuck in various parts of the machine – including the hose, bag, and filters – and can cause a blockage when enough gather.
But there’s no need to worry about manually picking up fallen pine needles during the festive season. If you’ve got baking soda – a common kitchen ingredient, especially when you’ve been doing Christmas baking – you’re in luck.
Simply scatter it on the floor where the needles have fallen; this will make them easier to gather using a broom or a lint roller. Dispose of the collected needles in your garden waste bin and vacuum up any leftover baking soda to leave your floors immaculate.
Most supermarkets stock baking soda for roughly 65p, making it an inexpensive must-buy for those with a real tree.
Emily also advises keeping your Christmas tree well-watered to reduce needle loss and to use caution when choosing water, based on specialist advice.
She advises: “Make sure you top up the water every other day and be sure not to let the base dry or a seal can form and it might not take up further water. And be careful about the water you’re topping it up with.
“According to Gene Fitzgerald, home water treatment expert at BOS, if you have a water softener at home then your water can be high in sodium, which is bad news for conifers and may cause your tree to drop needles faster. You could consider using another water source or bottled water to top up your tree – but check the label for sodium levels!”
Experts also recommend keeping your Christmas tree away from heat sources like radiators since the warmth can speed up needle shedding. Emily said: “Make sure your tree is in the coolest part of the room it’s in and away from any fires or radiators. Heat will speed up the needle-dropping process.”