The floors are 100 years old and we refinished them this year, new stain and poly. Does the stripping remove the finish or poly? Is there a way to get this fixed without disturbing the current floor stain/poly? Here's a good pic.

This is also a hypothetical. If I wanted my floor guy to come in and redo just this room, the usual sand down, stain and poly does he need to do anything about this oil soap first?

The oil soap MUST BE removed (ASAP) before you do anything else to these floors. First thing: remove the oil soap. Second thing: remove the oil soap. Third thing: remove the last of the oil soap.

The 'stripping' is to remove the oil soap. It's like removing the old wax from an old linoleum floor.
It chemically removes (dissolves) the oil you put down. It is THE FIX for the Murphy's application. Regardless of what happens AFTER the Murphy's oil fiasco, the stripping has to happen. Has to. No two ways around it. Do it now or do it later. Doesn't matter to me (but it does matter to your floor's finish). But the sooner you remove it the sooner the contaminant is removed and the less damage can be done by said contaminant.

The white abrasion marks (please don't scrub these floors...they don't need it) *might be fixed with a buffing (screening) of the current finish and then application of a single coat of finish - BUT (this is huge so pay attention) you have applied Murphy's Oil...so it might not stick.

Even IF your refinisher 'strips' and buffs the floor the risk is still there that you cannot get another coat of finish down. They can try - but you still run the risk it won't stick. Which brings us back to the full sand/refnish.

You have any suggestions on a chemical remover? I emailed Murphys on this. You say put another coat of finish down, do you mean the stain or poly or both.

Oil SOAP is just soap and it should come off with clean water, though it may take a few cleanings. Since your floor was recently refinished, my suggestion is to switch to an approved wood floor cleaner that won't leave a residue. The soap will be removed in short order.

I suspect the mark in your picture is an abrasion. I've not seen anything like this that was attributed to Murphy's.

Murphys oil soap is just soap!! Mixed with water. Likely finf for washing a bathtub or a car....but do NOT use a water based cleaner on wood furniture!

Did the OP say that Murphy's does NOT have a chemical stripper in their line up to REVERSE the issues with their product? Hmmmmmmmm. Highly suspicious (on Murphy's part).

A 5% ammonia mixture (aka. Windex Original formula) is gentle enough to work on polyurethane without damaging the finish. The white spots are, as we said, heavy scratching because of the use of a bristle brush. That is physical damage.

If you want to take the Murphy's oil off, you need to remove it using a chemical (like Windex Original) and SOFT materials - like clean white cotton rags/cloths (you can purchase a bag at Walmart or Home Depot).

1. Start with a 1ft x 1ft area of floor that is normally hidden from view (like behind an open door)

2. Spray the area with Windex Original (almost soaking it) and let it sit for 30-60 seconds (no more and NO LESS).

3. With a clean white cloth you will wipe up the Windex. Check the cloth of yellow/brown/orange (ie. the Murphy's oil colour). The cloth should have some form of indication that there is residue on the floor

4. Lightly mist the same spot and wipe up immediately with a NEW white cloth. Check the cloth for residue.

5. Continue the light misting on the spot until the cloth comes away 'clean' (looks damp with maybe a hint of blue from the Windex). Once the spot is clean of any residue, you move on to the next spot.

6. Continue cleaning your floor (assuming the Windex does not do any damage to the floor or the finish) in 2ft x 2ft patches until the floor is entirely free of Murphy's Oil residue.

Reassess the issues once the floor is clean. If this sounds tedious you can have a professional flooring person come in with a machine and do it for you.

Well I had my floor guy come over and he said he can just put down some more poly and it will fix it. Then I brought up Murphy's was on it and he jumped. Told me I had to remove that with lacquer thinner. do it quickly. That was the only way he knew to get it up. Then I guess poly after that.

Just be aware the mineral spirits/lacquer thinner will most likely damage the original poly. Yes it will remove the Murphy's (it will eat skin and leather as well...but who's counting). If you use this on the entire floor you will most likely need a full sand/refinish over the entire floor.

And if the lacquer thinner remains on the wood (ie. a new type of contaminant/solvent) it will continue to eat/dissolve the NEW finish as well (it will eat it from the bottom/wood level up).

Sigh. This is why I highly recommend you get a professional to do this ALL. From the 'cleaning' of the floor Murphy's oil through to the patch/full sand/refinish. That way it is only ONE person who has touched it/responsible for it.

But beware: The ultimate responsibility for failure = the owner who used Murphy's oil. That was/is the "original sin". Anything after that is considered an 'effort' to reduce the damaging effects of the Murphy's oil.

It is entirely possible, using the Lacquer thinner, that you will never get another finish to stick to this wood - ever again.

Personally I would keep the floor as it is and get the Murphy's oil off the floor (Windex....see above) and then 'wear down' the finish (over the next 15-20 years) and then reassess the issue.

Right now you have a fully functioning finish. Yes it is scarred. Yes it is contaminated. But it is FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

As soon as you 'attempt' anything (lacquer thinner/mineral spirits) to put down new poly, you LOSE the 'fully functional' designation. You *might cause more damage (physical and FINANCIAL) than if you just leave it alone for 15 years.

Imagine the cost of doing all this work ($5-$7/sf) only to have it fail COMPLETELY in 6 months. Now you need new wood.

This is the BIG pit fall of using lacquer thinner. Be FULLY AWARE of what you are getting into just to fix a couple of scars on a fully functional floor.

Do not use lacquer thinner. It's quite volatile and would evaporate quickly but it could damage the finish. The proper solvent for soap is water. Your best solution is to clean the floor with plain water or an approved wood floor cleaner (which is generally water with some type of surfactant until the floor really needs another coat. At that point a floor contractor can use something like the Pallmann recoating system with a deep cleaner and bonding agent to make sure the new coat sticks to the existing.

So we got this fixed and pretty easy. Professional floor guy of over 50+ years came up with this. I used lacquer thinner, on rag, then to floor. I tried to make sure I got each area good. I then used Ammonia free Windex to finish it up. My floor guy came in and sanded it lightly and put poly back down, spots gone.

I have been using Murphy's Oil soap for 30 years. They just changed the formula and destroyed my wood finish....thanks alot new formula. Now I need to find a new product.

Make sure you clean all that awful murphys oil off, before you try anything else. You shouldnt need anything to clean your wood floors, except water, and maybe a drop of dawn. It does a great job.

i used the murphy's oil soap like i normally have for 30 years. their new formula really did a number on my closet doors that i have always used it on.... now i have to restain and add a protective layer to it.... thanks alot for changing the formula......

Things to dump from your cleaning closet....Murphys oil soap, Orange oil anything, and spray furniture wax containing silicone!

My husband used Murphy's on my vintage 1964 kitchen cabinets - the places where he spot cleaned are dull, and noticeably lighter than the surrounding area. I suspect he did not dilute it - and ideas on how to fix this mess?

Start ack at the beginning of this post, you need to clean with Windex and refinish the cabinets.

UPDATE: I wrote the company and asked why my cabinets look so bad after using Murphy's. (Note - my cabinets are 60 years old - the finish is quite old)

I got this response from Colgate:

"Thank you for your contacting Colgate Palmolive regarding the Murphy Oil Soap.

We are sorry to hear of the experience you recently had. The floor should be a finished wood surface and have been finished with in the last 7 years before using the Murphy Oil Soap as well. Unfortunately we would be unable to confirm if the finish of the surface has been striped or if you just have residue from a bad finish. However if it is a bad finish only we recommend cleaning over the surface with 2 cups of white vinegar to 2 quartz of warm water. We'd also recommend having a professional provide confirmation if this is something beyond a tacky finish."

I have used Murphys for several wood floors and I have had a good experience with it. It leaves a nice streak free shine and a clean light scent. The key is to Dilute it! A little bit goes a long way. I had a problem with some of the Girls I worked with leaving a sticky finish on our client's wood floors and discovered they were using it full strength. That was definitely a serious problem. A problem that was solved easily by a water/vinegar solution. It is not recommended, however for Vinyl. That is a disaster waiting to happen.