Your green leafed friends can accumulate a noticeable dull patina of household dust (aka your skin flakes and dirt) over a period of time untended. With the rainy day weather keeping you inside, now is a good time to revive them to their full luster with a little bit of TLC. Your photosynthesizing friends will love you for it.
What You Need
Equipment
Lukewarm water
Mild dishwashing soap (sans degreaser) or insecticidal soap
Paper towel or reusable cloth
Spray bottle or bowl
Mayonnaise
Duster/Swiffer cloths (optional)
Instructions
1. Begin by trimming any dead or decaying leaves. Now's an excellent time to give your houseplant the equivalent of a haircut. Just a trim, nothing drastic.
2. We like to begin by simply dusting or using a Swiffer sheet gently across the leaves of our plants to remove as much dust before moving onto using the liquid solution. This will make cleaning easier, since you'll have less filth to deal with when mixing a moist surface with a dusty one.
3. Mix in just ΒΌ teaspoon of dishwashing soap with lukewarm water in a bowl or mix inside spray bottle. You want et mixture to be slightly sudsy, but not a bubble bath. Be sure not to use a soap with a degreaser in it; degreasers can harm the leaf cuticle.
4. For plants with smaller, multiple leaves, wrap the top of the soil with aluminum foil, flip the potted plant over and swish them in a bucket of warm water with a little mild soap, then rinse with clean water.
5. Using a spray bottle or moistened towel, gently brush across leaves to remove accumulated dirt. Do not oversoak or go over leaves too many times (you risk bruising).
6. A great tip noted by one of our readers is to add a bit of shine afterward is to add a tiny dollop of mayonnaise (just a little, Dagwood, you're not making a snack) onto a moistened cloth and wipe across the most visible leaves. The oil in the mayo will leave your plants shiny...will instill a strong desire to make yourself a sandwich and some potato salad.
Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home?
See all of our Home Hacks tutorials
We're looking for great examples of your own household intelligence too!
Submit your own Home Hacks tutorial or idea here!
(Images: Gregory Han)
Originally posted March 23, 2007
Jonya & Brad's Modern A–Frame 
Quick Cleaning Tip: Keep Baseboards Cleaner With Fabric Softner
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Profile Chair by Ma...
15 Essential Building Blocks for Quick Weeknight Meals
Summer Recipe: No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake
Comments (15)
My mom had me clean the house plants with large leaves with a small amount of mayo, they were instanting shining and stayed that way a long time. I do that now and hopefully, it's not bad for the plant as it makes the leaves look great.
The mayonnaise swipe is not such a great idea - it will clog the pores on the leaves and glue down settling dust. A mild soap and water wipe down is usually enough.
I use mayo as furniture polish.
I always clean my house plants with beer! Wipe the leaves down with a cloth soaked in beer: fast, clean and shiny.
I just stick them in the shower.
I agree that it's probably not good to clog the plants pores. I think "leaf shine" products are no longer recommended for the same reason.
Er... plants' pores.
I have used mayo for years per my mom's instructions as well. I recently tried a tiny bit of milk and it worked just as well. Would milk clog the pores?
If its been working for years, does that mean it works?
Milk will not clog pores.
Oil is the main ingredient in Mayo and will likely work as well. It might keep the water in the plant during the winter.
My plants don't really look dusty. Maybe because they go out in the rain during the summer?
It doesn't surprise me at all that this would work. Even though I hate mayonnaise, I keep a small jar in the fridge for getting rid of rings on wood furniture (an old trick my mother taught me). Works like a charm!
I used to watch (a little disgusted and a little bit out of curiosity) as my mom would wipe each and every leaf of their 6 foot tall rubber plant with Mayonnaise. I had forgotten that distant memory...until now.
Well, not to anthropomorphize plants, but.... would YOU like mayonnaise rubbed all over YOU?
@btoddster YES, I would.. are you the person for the job?? :)
I've used the banana peel trick after seeing that same tv show - it worked like a charm and cost nothing.
I just use a can of compressed air to dust 'em off.