Scale control - methods for indoor control?

I agree on the Orthene, but Enstar is perfectly safe indoors, but another alternative is a soft toothbrush, a cup of very soapy water, and some elbow grease.

Thank you.... I think I will try soap and water with a tooth brush and follow it with soap and alcohol or insecticidal soap spray. Unfortunately the 30+ plants are in close proximity, so I have a little bit of work inspecting and cleaning! It looks like the major problems are on 2-3 plants, but there a light signs on many others.

Is it a good idea to water the plants and then drench the medium and roots with a soap and water or soap and alcohol mix?

I have a older cat with kidney disease, and really want to avoid anything that will affect her if at all possible.

Bruce,

In India they use Neem oil as hair oil and in toothpaste. They also use it striaght out of the bottle as an antiseptic. I think you can consider it non-toxic and it does one heck of a job on scale insects (cheap too). I buy mine at the local Asian food store for $3/bottle. After use, just keep your plants out of the sun for a few days.

A followup :

Thanks to the users here ofr their responses. I eventually settled for using Safer's brand Insecticidal soap and added Neem oil for backup. Watered the plats well, inspected for any hardscale, and carehully pried those off with a sharp scalpel. Sprayed the leaves top and bottom, thoroughly soaking the entire plant.

Placed it back in the window with the blinds closed for a day to let it dry and so far so good. It has been about 3 weeks (I know I know) and I will spray a second time this weekend.