Try giving them a very LONG warm shower.

Use warm water. (Warm enough to remove the oils in the mayo but not hot enough to overheat the plants.)

Don't rush it. May have to repeat.

Just put them in the tub or shower.

I'm sorry I have no suggestions, have heard the mayo polish to be a problem & attract bugs.

For the future, pls. know that most of us here DO NOT USE anything like this nor do we believe in leaf polishing. Some of us simply wipe off the dust w/ a moist cloth or sponge. Others give the plants a shower from time to time, but many of us believe leaf shine to be dangerous to the plants & (entirely unnecessary).

In nature there is no leaf shine or leaf polish; some leaves are shiny & some are not, that's it.

I would think that gently rubbing each leaf (like you did when you applied the mayo) gently with a moist, soft cloth would do the trick. Actually, it sounds like you slathered the mayo on with a knife, now that I re-read your post, lol.

Just kidding. Really....the wiping should do it.

Thank you all! I'm gonna try the showering / wiping asap - I hope I get the gunk off!
Lesson learnt pirate girl - I look at images of plants on google and they look so healthy and shiny that I wanted to achieve the same effect on my plants too. I guess what I am seeing now is the darker side...

LOL! Good discovery, albert!

Baby wipes work really well for cleaning leaves, and may help you in your effort to get the mayo off, perhaps after the 'warm shower' suggested?

Hellmann's Mayo Remover

Wild guess here, but some people use diluted lemon juice to clean orchid leaves. I wonder if that might work?

I used to work for an indoor plant company that used aerosol leaf shine frequently. It never hurt the plants (unless you overdid it on a couple specific varieties) and actually did a really good job at smothering any pests that might be lurking. I was always taught that leaf shine is Evil Incarnate, but that was not my experience while working there.

Oh the mayo didnt hurt the plants any per se. Its just that there is a lot of dust thats stuck onto my plants coz I took them outside where its dusty. The polished ones in my office still look great even after a month. I would recommend mayo to anyone who wants to use a natural leaf shine product - I just realized its not for me.

I would try vinegar..put some on cotton ball then wipe the leaves off with it then put luke warm water in a spray bottle spray leaves wipe off with paper towel..good luck may take a couple washings.

lol Lynn...hopefully they got cleaned long time ago - this thread is from 2009...

Wow long time for thread to still be posted lol

I noted that too, but thought, "Oh well". Prolly someone who just signed up (I didn't check). But look - the thread has been revived - 3 posts in a few days!! ;-)

Al