Random Non- Mother Relatedness House Plants

You can touch spider plants but not too roughly.
It's the dry air / lack of humidity which will turn leaf tips brown.
You can trim off the dead ends.
For more humidity, you can mist your plants with a sprayer or run a humidifier near your plants.
Most of my plants go outside once it's warm enough but during the winter when they are inside the leaves can get dusty by mid winter, so I'll rinse them off (one plant at a time) in the kitchen sink (I use the sprayer and gently rinse the leaves off sort of sideways so the soil does not get too wet).
My bigger plants get rinsed off in the shower.
You can use a liquid plant food (add a few drops into water before watering) but the plant food spikes works well, too.

http://www.plantcare.com/encyclopedia/spider-plant-294.aspx

http://www.plantcare.com/encyclopedia/philodendron-780.aspx

(This plant encyclopedia has many listings for philodendron, so you may want to look them all up till you find one which one matches your particular plant).

Spider plants will turn brown if you touch them. Other than that I don't know a lot about them.

Philodendroms will grow in plain water. Make sure you cut them back a couple of times a year. If you allow them to get long they will not fill out and get bushy. Put the cuttings in a jar of water and it will grow roots. You can plant them in a new pot or add them back to the orginal pot to make the plant look nice and full.

Plants can suffer from too much or too little water, and direct sunlight in the middle of the day can burn many kinds of houseplants. I've never had spider plants turn brown from touching, but the soil should be allowed to dry out slightly between waterings.

You can add a very dilute houseplant fertilizer with each watering for lush growth, or even every month or so will do it for most plants. Look for a fertilizer that lists houseplants on the label, and follow the directions. Don't over-fertilize, because that can cause damage, too. Get the basics by simply googling "caring for houseplants/spider plants/philodendron." You've got some pretty easy-care plants, so they should respond with just a little TLC.

Fertilize in the spring, not during the winter, the spider plant with shoot out plants during the winter if you keep from fertilizing. sounds like they need a bit less water.

Not sure about the philodendron I am not familiar with those but typically you do not fertilize during the winter from what I have gathered. Otherwise during the spring/summer I fertilize every 3 months and change the soil during this time also once. My spider plant is crazy, I have had 3 shoots and replanted 7 plants since I got it 2 years ago! lol I have spider plants all over the house!!