5 Unique Ways to Use Banana Peels for Cleaning – Better Homes and Gardens

Banana peels often conjure up the image of someone slipping, but interestingly, what gives them their slippery reputation (the natural wax) makes banana peels perfect for polishing metal objects and removing stains from leather .

In addition to their natural wax, banana peels contain potassium, which is often used in the tanning industry to treat leather and other hides. Potassium helps make leather flexible and durable by stabilizing collagen and making skin stronger and more resilient.

Read on to learn how to use banana peels to shine and polish silver and leather, and learn about other unusual uses for banana peels around the home.

1. Polish money

To clean just a few pieces of silver, rub the inside of a banana peel directly over the silver. If you're cleaning a cutlery collection, make a banana peel paste by pulverizing several peels in a blender or food processor. Use a soft cloth to apply the paste to the silver and a clean cloth to polish and tarnish the paste. After polishing, wash the silver with warm, soapy water to remove any banana residue.

2. Dust off houseplants

Dusting houseplants is an important (and often overlooked!) part of caring for an indoor garden. Cleaning the leaves with a banana peel not only removes dust, but the oils in the peel also add some shine to the leaves, giving them a little more shine. After cleaning a houseplant with a banana peel, use a microfiber cloth to wipe away residue from the leaves, which can dull them and attract fruit flies and other pests.

3. Remove stains from leather

Leather items, from belts and wallets to shoes and even furniture , are susceptible to scuffs and scratches that occur with regular use. Don't have leather care on hand? Use a banana peel to remove stains from leather by rubbing the inside of the leather over the damaged areas. After using the banana peel to remove stains, wipe off any residue with a soft cloth and then use a clean portion of the cloth to polish and bring the leather to a shine by rubbing vigorously in a circular motion.

4. Polish wooden furniture

Beautify wooden furniture that has seen better days by polishing and removing scratches, water stains , and other surface damage with a banana peel. Work the peel into the wood in circular movements, then remove any fruit residue and polish the wood with a soft cloth.

5. Remove scratches from CD and DVD

Compact discs (CDs) and digital video discs (DVDs) are practically no longer used, but are by no means completely obsolete. If you have a collection of CDs or DVDs , chances are that one or two of them have suffered scratches over the years, causing dropouts or degraded sound quality. Rubbing scratches on the surface of a CD or DVD with a banana peel will repair them.

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