Woman sparks huge debate as she's left horrified after washing her Christmas tree

A woman has revealed the grim results of cleaning her Christmas tree - and it's dividing the internet.

When it comes to preparing your house for the festive season, there's typically a lot of cleaning involved, however we wouldn't imagine that giving your Christmas tree a bath is on this list.

However one video has raised the question; should we be giving our tree a bath before it takes centre stage in our living rooms?

Sharing the results of cleaning her Christmas tree online was Instagram user Tanja Bentley Ward, who decided to give the branches of her artificial tree a wash after noticing that they appeared to be dusty.

The clip, which is titled 'You might be surprised by the amount of dust on your Christmas tree...' showed Tanja dunking various branches in water before leaving them out to dry.

The result of her washing experiment was pretty grim indeed, with the water turning a murky brown colour from the process.

"Last year, I mentioned how dusty the Christmas tree appeared," she wrote in the caption.

"This year, Johnny set up a system for me to rinse and dry the branches before we decorate the house."

Going on to ask her followers if they've ever washed their tree before, Tanja added: "Ours was much worse than I thought."

The responses were of course mixed between horror, exasperation and even confusion about how you'd even go about washing certain types of trees in the first place.

"My trees dust is none of my business," one person commented, while a second added: "My mom's tree is over 50 years old i think if we washed it, it itself would crumble to dust."

"but youre [sic] taking away the christmas smell," a third person joked.

Washing your Christmas tree may seem like a pretty bizarre idea at first - after all, it's not like you'll be eating your dinner off of the branches - however, Tanja isn't the only person who's given their tree a clean before assembling.

TikToker @Rhema.br recently caused division among her followers after sharing a video of herself chucking the entire tree in the bath, prompting many to call her actions 'performative cleanliness', while various cleaning experts have also argued that you shouldn't be neglecting your tree.

According to Wayfair UK, who recently spoke to Gareth Nye, a Programme Lead for Medical Science, you should be dusting off an artificial tree both before and after putting it up.

"Artificial trees are often stored in humid and dusty conditions with little disruption for a significant portion of the year," he said.

"Ideally you should fully dust off your artificial trees as you get them out of storage," Nye added.

"Additionally, ensure the tree is clean and disinfected before putting it back away and try to ensure your storage options of choice are suitable to prevent the growth of pathogens.”

Or you could just get a real tree instead.