Murphy Oil Soap Gentle Effective Cleaning By Joan Young on Nov 15, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Murphy Oil Soap is hard to beat to clean wood, painted surfaces, leather, vinyl, marble, cars and most any thing you can wash with water. If you can't use abrasives, get out the Murphy's!

I first met Murphy Oil Soap 44 years ago, and it had already been around for about 60 years before that! It's still quietly cleaning dozens of items with biodegradable, natural ingredients. As a general all-purpose household soap this is the gold standard. Over the years I've washed floors, walls, woodwork, plastic toys and baby accessories, and just about anything else that's washable with it. It cuts greasy dirt in a flash. I just tried it with hot water and a nylon scrubbie on some old dried grease spots on my stove that I'd been ignoring, and it cut through them with one application.

The soap in the bottle is very thick and you dilute it to varying degrees depending on what you want to clean and how dirty it is. Because there is no residue, you do not even have to rinse after you wash! And I can testify that this is true. You can wash a floor with diluted Murphy's, not rinse, and it will not be sticky or slippery.

Be sure to remove excess water from wood surfaces, and don't use Murphy's on wood that is bare. You can rub some undiluted soap into tough spots on your laundry and then throw them in the washer. It is safe to use on no-wax floors, and even marble.

It is not chemical or harsh, and is kind to your hands, unlike detergents.

It has a distinctive spicy odor that is hard to describe. Once you know this scent you will recognize it anywhere.

This is one of those products that should be in everyone's home because it can be used in so many ways.