Most homemade plant shine formulas call for a mixture of mayonnaise and a little cooking oil. Mayonnaise contains egg. I don't like the idea of a layer of egg sitting on my houseplants. At some point, it must begin to smell and I would think it would be an attractant to flies and other insects.
If you have a friendly butcher, ask him/her to give or sell you an ounce of food grade slicer oil. It contains no animal products. Unless you have many plants, an ounce should last a few years.
With an applicator (I like to use a wool swab), apply a very thin layer to the leaf tops only. Applying the oil to the undersides can prevent the stoma from being able to breathe.
By the way... I got this baby at Lowes for a markdown price of $2.00. I brought it home, repotted it, gave it a little TLC and it is growing happily.
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I've read many tips that say to use banana skins or mayo to clean houseplants. I don't like using these or any other such thing on my plants because they leave a coating on the leaves which can block them from getting air and/or water.
Apply mayonnaise to your plants to clean them and make them shine beautifully.
To keep the leaves of houseplants shiny and dust free, wipe them with a banana peel.
Cleaning philodendron leaves with a cotton ball saturated with milk will remove the dust and let them shine, shine, shine! After wiping off each leaf gently, let air dry.
Clean house plant leaves using a sock. Slip your hand into the sock. You are able to clean the top and bottom of the leaves at the same time.
Use a piece of soft cloth with a small amount of mayonnaise. Carefully wipe off the dust. Follow with another clean cloth to remove the mayonnaise. Your plants will shine and be able to breathe.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Tips for cleaning house plants. Post your ideas.
Use a soft paintbrush or makeup brush to dust them. You can also put them in the tub and run the shower over them.
To make the leaves of houseplants look shiny and clean, pour a little milk on a paper towel and gently rub each leaf! Makes the plant look GREAT!
By Wiseinhimmer
Put them in your shower and shower them gently ! Heard on "You bet your Garden" on NPR as a cure for aphids. (www.whyy.org/
Editor's note: With cool water
I clean my houseplants using milk. Pour in a bowl and dip in a paper towel and wipe the leaves. When leaves dry they will really shine. Plants like the milk also.
I don't like using banana skins or mayo or any other such thing on my plants because they leave a coating on the leaves which can block them from getting air and/or water. It also causes them to collect dust and dirt faster.
What I do is I take a gallon size bucket and put no more than 1/2 tsp mild dish soap in. I then take a lint free cloth and wipe each leaf. This cleans all the dust and dirt without blocking their pores. And they are totally clean and will not attract dust and dirt, thereby staying clean longer.
I use this method for all my plants that have leaves large enough to wash individually. For all the others, I put them in the bath tub and set the shower to "mist" and give them a good shower for about 10-15 minutes.
Any plants that are too large to pick up I always keep on a rolling tray. That way I can roll it into the bathroom and use a sprayer to spray it down good.
I use a few drops of glycerin in a mug of water to wipe them clean using old socks or a soft muslin cloth
Can I use mayonnaise to shine the leaves of houseplants?
I would not recommend this at all. Just a spray bottle with some water and a nice dust cloth is more than enough. If you add anything else it can make the leaves a dust collector and this is not what you want at all.
Spraying the leaves and gently wiping the leaves with a damp cloth will sufficiently clean indoor houseplants. It's best to use room temperature water instead of cold water when cleaning houseplants.
Florists used to do this, maybe some still do, because it makes leaves on plants like Rubber Tree plants and Peace Lilies shiny and people who would see the plants at funeral homes or events would be wowed with how nice they looked. It won't harm the plants, but to me, it is expensive and a waste of food (and my big fear that it would draw ants).
If my plants are dusty, I run them through a quick spritz in the shower. For those that are too big to do that with, if I am so inclined, I will wipe the leaves down with a clean rag.
You will find this is a controversial subject as many will say yes but most will say no because this method does tend to let dust gather faster on the leaves and does occasionally 'smell'.
I believe you should probably use several methods basing the method on the type of houseplant you're cleaning.
I use compressed air on my cactus and water spray/wipe on larger plants.
Some will fit in the tub and can be rinsed.
A feather duster works great for several months until plants need a good cleaning.
These are some good suggestions:
www.thriftyfun.com/
I read an article about cleaning your house plants leaves with something special awhile back. Would anybody remember? I usually keep all of the articles, but I have lost this one. Thanks for any feedback!
By nikki
I don't remember reading about this in ThriftyFun but ages ago, during the 1950's people used to put a little mayo on a cloth and dust their potted vines such as pothos, philodendron, etc.
Banana skins are really good for this. Fruit side to leaf.
Water is the best thing to use. Spray thoroughly then wipe off with a damp cloth. A piece of an old T-shirt works well. Anything greasy like mayonaise or sticky like a banana peel will just attract more dust sooner. Mother Nature uses water to clean all her plants. How can you improve on that!
I am looking for a good way to dust, clean my 3 large real plants. I have been using a mild soap, but it seems like it dries out the ends of the greens, and yellows them.
By Annie
The easiest is to use the hair dryer on cool and then take an old washcloth rinsed in neutral temp, wipe carefully. Also, take them to the shower and turn on to gentle rain force.
When I worked for an interior plant maintenance company we would clean the plant leaves in the warehouse before they went to the client. We sprayed the leaves with water and a mild soap and wiped with paper towels. I'd place a paper towel in each hand and wipe the bottom and top of a leaf between my hands.
For smaller leafed plants we'd spray then gently wipe with an ostrich feather duster. For really dirty plant leaves we'd spray with a hose with a shower type spray then wipe. A trick we used to shine them is to ad a bit of milk or leaf shine to the water so the leaves looked really shiny! Adding some pepper spray as well will prevent insects. Spray with the pepper spray underneath the leaves where the insects hide. A mild insecticidal soap works great too. I really doubt the soap is what is causing the leaf tips to turn brown.
To clean the leaves on my live indoor plants, all I use is a swiffer duster. One hand under the leaf so it doesn't break, and use the swiffer to dust the leaves. They are naturally shiny when I'm finished. It's fast and easy.
Pat R.
Why can I not use Leaf Shine by Miracle-Gro on hard cactus stalks or leaved ones? What do I use on air plants to make them shine?
By Ivamarie
I have raise and have raised plants for years. Leafy, prickly,tall, short and I am a firm believer in only the natural. Chemicals and plants aren't a good mix.
If they get dusty, I may run them thru a cool (bathroom) shower mist (leafy ones like wandering jew, spider plants, or various ferns got this treatment once or twice a year).
When I raised Jade plants, kalachoe, mother in law tongues, and big and little rubber tree plants, I would feather duster dust them or wipe down gently with an old cotton undershirt and cool water every few weeks.
Cacus were left alone as were African violets and primrose, as they are delicate in their own ways. Excess water isn't good for them and neither is the rubbing motion of dusting as it can cause damage to their structure.
Some people swear by a dab of real mayo to shine leaves like the Jade's/mother in law tongues/rubber trees, but I was always afraid it would attract bugs, even if wiped off with cool water.
Hope this helps!
It is generally used by florists to make the plants more attractive to the buyer. It may protect against some insects, but you can do that yourself by examining the plant often and using insecticidal soap.' I wouldn't use it. A healthy plant has its own beauty.
