I've been using it for years and love it. The wonderful smell reminds me of my grandmother as she used it also. It's amazing how it cleans wood you never knew was so dirty.

Careful, though. Most hardwood flooring people (especially oil-finished hardwoods) do NOT recommend Murphy's Oil, as it is drying with long-term use.

A damp mop with a vinegar-warm water solution is best--follow the directions on the vinegar label, under "Household Uses").

The vinegar smell dissipates in minutes.

I'm glad I came upon this thread. I need a non oily wood furniture cleaner. They all say they clean, but I just feel like all they do is polish and not get the grime off of the furniture.

I will try the Murphy's Oil Soap.

I have heard that Murphy's will also leave a film on eurathaned wood that can cause problems (extra work) if you ever try to re-finish it. Anyone else heard this? My personal favorite use for Murphy's is to clean the inside (and outside) of my car. (It is a paint-safe cleanser.)

Yes, I've heard it leaves a film, and also that you should never clean hardwood floors with that or anything oily, because then if you want to have your floors refinished you can't just give it a light sanding and add a coat of urethane, you have to sand them right down to bare wood and start over. We had to do that when we moved in this house for that exact reason.

Thank you, Purple Jade - that sounds like what I heard. Makes sense.

I used to use Murphy's, but after I heard about the oily residue, I spent an hour going to the websites of every hardwood floor manufacturer I could find (all were poly finished, like my floors), and all were unanimous that oil soap cleaners should not be used.

I use Bruce hardwood cleaner. It costs a bit upfront, but lasts forever. Remember, you're not supposed to be washing your hardwood floors as much as you might wash tile or vinyl. Just vacuum (no beater brushes), spot clean with a damp cloth, and wash every so often. I wash maybe once a year.

Good thing I read, I've used on rare occasions Murphy Soap on varnished HW, and wondered. The good news is I didn't get around to it more than every year or two.

I do have some: Bruce dura-luster no-wax floor cleaner, for no-wax finish floors. The picture is of wood no-wax - seems to be for HW. Is the the Bruce mentioned in this thread?
I've used it as a spray, and dust method, after a vacuum cleaning with a canister vac and HW floor brush.

The floor cleaner I use is called something like Bruce Hardwood Cleaner. I know that the word "hardwood" was in the title.

We just had to do a "spot repair" on our quartersawn hardwood floors and had 3 floor companies look at the project. All said if we had EVER used Murphy's Oil on the floors (they had a urethene finish) that we were sunk. Don't use it!

I realize this is an old thread, but the topic is very important to me, and I sincerely hope to inform people who come here looking for information on this subject. As a hardwood flooring professional I ask everyone; please please please DO NOT use murphy's oil soap on hardwood floors. It makes my job much more difficult when I have to refinish a floor. (the same goes for wax. it gums up the sandpaper)

The best cleaner is 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon warm water.

Don't take my word for it though, here's a few sites that agree with me.

http://www.nam.synteko.com/faqs_frames.html
http://www.cinhome.com/murphys.html
http://www.woodfloordoctor.com/_ask_the_expert/comp/murphys_oil_soap_on_hardwood_floors.html
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/08/08sep08a.cfm
http://www.colehardware.com/hotline/2003/07/hdwdflrs.htm

Seems to me that vinegar is a great, all around cleaner. 409, Mr Clean, etc don't get used much anymore, and I use vinegar as a replacement for those other products. Cheaper, too!

I used Murphy's Oil Soap on my floors about 2 months ago. Pertneer whole house is wood floors -- 10 rooms and hallway with hardwood floors, it's an old victorian farm house over 100 years old. The "soap" left a dull, smeared, waxy look after mopping. I'll try the vinegar next. I dust mop it several times/week (one of those Every-Which-Way® Floor Duster mops -- http://www.ocedar.com/main.taf?erube_fh=ocedar&ocedar.submit.getProductDetails=1&ocedar.productid=31 ) The dust mop works fairly well, but it gets old doing it so often with so many rooms. I only dust mop the 1st floor, which has 5 rooms. I'd almost prefer vacuuming! I have to work around my 18 month old toddler and my dog, which make it fun as neither seem to understand that they need to stay out of the way of the sweeping.

I stick to basics, soap and water for me. A bit of vinegar to make my dishes shinny and to clean my vases.