Quite honestly, I'd get the Murphy's hidden or out of the house completely. White vinegar and water is all you'll ever need. I premix the solution for our housekeeper to avoid over and misuse.

I had read your post and did not get back 2 to right away. Leaking A coil and wet carpet. If that would ever happen again, just use 3 drops of "Dawn," and then rinse with the white V. V is an acid and has no surfactant,(Grease Disolver.) I'm glad it worked for U.

The other thing is, if U have any marble in the bathrooms, remove all of the acid cleaners, Sno-Bowl, Lime-Away, and there R, 2 others which I, can't remember. Boom, Zoom? They R acid, also. I told 1 cleaning client to hide them from this cleaning person and she, did not. They had just had their bathroom redone, in marble. This person came in and sprayed the entire shower with, Lime-Away. It etched the entire shower an it would hold 10 people. $4,000,they had it, repolished or what ever. If english is not this person's first language, just B certain U know what they R using, if U R giving them supplies. 2 them, Yellow, is Lemon Pledge or Endust. They could spray Easy-Off Oven cleaner, due to the fact that the can is yellow, all over your dining room table. I have seen it done. I own a cleaning service, and have seen, many things. Just B warned. This was, nothing as to what could happen. Just B sure to watch what they R using.

Thanks for your responses. Kec01, I'm sooooo considering dumping all my Endust/Murphys/Fantastik and going with baking soda and vinegar in my cleaning cupboard for costs and simplicity. I also like the idea of premixing any solution - hadn't thought of that!

Etienne, thank you for your advice as well. We're moving soon and will be redoing bathrooms and kitchens, and I'd curl up and die if a housekeeper trashed my marble.

Zeebee, The last Endust/Pledge I purchased was in about 1992 - right when I inherited family antique furniture and learned about the oily buildup which happens on the furniture from that stuff. I dry dust now with microfiber cloths. For all else, it's white vinegar and baking soda as you mention. Yes, the costs are much less but I believe it's better for preserving the longevity of the items I'm cleaning.

Remember when you are cleaning your 'wood floors,' what you are actually cleaning is the finish on top of the wood.

My hubby actually laid down paste wax on my hardwood floor--trying to be helpful.

After guests left, he blamed them for his 'gummy' dining room floor. That was a mess to clean up.

karen

We have hardwood floors throughout the house and the only thing used to clean them, EVER, is white vinegar and water. A very good friend of mine installs and refinishes wood floors and furniture and swears that Murphy's is his best friend.....it is guaranteed to increase his business.

I will NEVER use Murphy's Oil Soap on my polyurethane coated hardwood floors again. I'm not certain your housecleaner mixed the solution incorrectly. I bought the premixed stuff, damp mopped with it and it left a greasy, streaky, dulling residue. It looks AWFUL!!!

Being new to hardwood floors after this fiasco (and my husband taking the advice of some nice old well meaning lady in Lowe's who told him to clean the hardwoods with Liquid Gold furniture polish) I've learned a lot about how to clean my hardwoods, stainless steel appliances and granite.

I surfed the internet for hours trying to find what to use to take the oil slick (combo of the liquid gold in one area that was tracked througout the house...then the Murphy's oil I used to try to clean that up). I considered vinegar but hesitated because some people have reported it yellowed their floors without stating exactly what kind of hardwoods they had. Finally, I read Glass Plus (not Windex it contains ammonia) will take the greasy film off of the floor. With polyurethane think of it as cleaning glass or a mirror rather than wood because essentially that is what you are doing.

I damp mopped with the Glass Plus and the floors looked a lot better. It removed much of the greasy, streaky residue. Then....

I bought what the manufacturer of the flooring suggested and picked up some Bona Kemi hardwood cleaner. IT ROCKS!!!! I used it just last week and it did a really nice job cleaning my floors. They have a refresher as well I want to try but cannot find it locally and have to order it online.

The moral of the story....sometimes it's best to go with what the manufacturer suggests initially. I'm one of those people that's convinced products that are "recommended" are overpriced and I can find something comparable cheaper by another name (or homemade).

I'm a Bona user now. Wouldn't use anything else. Speaking of greay residue....we used our searing grill for the first time last night and I have a greasy patch all over my kitchen floor. Going to try the Bona first this time to see if it cuts grease as well as clean the floors really well. If not, I'll Glass Plus the area then go over it with the Bona again.

Follow-up.......

Used the Bona to clean the greasy area (cooking oil) on my hardwoods yesterday and it worked great. No greasy residue. Ordered the refresher online as well. The perfect all in one hardwood cleaner.

I've tried Everything and so far Glass Plus works the best.
Honestly I have dark poly floors and two small dogs.
Nothing really works for me I c every paw print.
If I could rip them out I would. I've tried, vinegar and water, alcohol , ammonia and water, tea and of course Bono which I hate.
I give up and I guess I'll stick with the glass plus.

To kitchen remodel- do you put the glass plus straight on the floor or do you dilute it.? If diluted, how? Thanks.

No matter what I have tried to use: murphys oil soap, bona, mop and glow. my brand new Brazilian cherry hardwood floor looks like it is blotched with paw prints, footprints and it even shows every shoe print that is walked on it. I purchased the whole bona cleaning kit. Used it less than an hour ago and the whole floor is spotted up already. I am at my witts end. What do I do. I have had this floor less than 3 months and it hasnt looked clean and shiny once.

I don't know. . .I've used the Bona and was not impressed. After using it, I spilled some water on the floor and when I wiped up the water my rag came up streaked with grey. The Bona didn't seem to actually CLEAN my floor that well. It also did not pick up the random detritus around my bird cage. Know what DID? Murphy's Oil soap.

I usually damp mop or steam mop my floors, but I very occasionally clean with a floor cleaner (like, once every few months). So far, the Murphy's is actually the only cleaner that has picked up the mess from my floor.

Our house came with greasy looking brazilian cherry floors. I scrubbed them with amonia and water and they looked quite a bit better. Then started with bona about 8 months ago, and now they are a greasy looking mess again.
I can get it off with mineral spirits and/ or ammonia and water and then a final coat of windex wiped off immediately with paper towel.
I don't recommend bona at all. Some people say it is the same company as orange glo.

So i plan on just using a damp mop once i get the floor clean. I might use bruce hardwood cleaner that ive used before and trust, but not sure it is worth risking having to go thru all this work to remove if it doesn't work as hoped.

I just want to add to this thread and say, Murphy's Oil Soap ruined my wood floors, too!

We moved in a couple months ago, and the floors were shiny perfect (engineered hardwood), until a new housekeeper used Murphy's Oil Soap last week, and now they're a dull, uneven mess! They look scummy. From now on, I'm only going to sweep first and damp mop after, like the last person. Once I work my way up the ladder of ways to remove the scum!

You can try removing some the murphy oil off your floors with warm water, just make sure the mop is not too wet and they quickly dry it off with a swifter cloth, it has worked for me in the past

Thanks, I tried a light wet mop, and then a mop with white vinegar. I didn't try mopping with drying after--will try that next--and also the Dawn trick, didn't try that yet. Murphy's = never again!

This isn't exactly about cleaning floors, more about keeping them nice once they ARE clean.

I have dark walnut (think chocolate bars . . . ) engineered hardwood floors throughout the house, except for kitchen, baths, entry.

They don't get 'dirty' per se, but, honestly, I don't think there is a person on this planet who could keep them dust-free. They get dusty in just a couple of days.

Perfect solution? Roomba. He chugs all over, all by his little self. His HEPA filters catch ALL the dust. There is even noticeably less on the furniture. I guess that's because Roomba vacuums it up instead of just flinging it around everywhere the way a regular vacuum does.

This is, of course, starting with a floor that's basically clean. If someone comes through and leaves a footprint, a damp cloth takes it right up.

The tile is dealt with by Braava, Roomba's sister.

As for the OP's question, I vote for taking up as much of the Murphy's as possible with warm water. Rinse, rinse again, then follow with the Glass Plus. Skate around on towels to wipe up the leavings.

Thanks all for the comments that I have read on how to clean hardwood flooring. I have always had wood floors in some sense. I just completed my renovations and had wood placed all over the house and my 14 year old was doing me a favor because my work schedule was crazy and he mixed Murphys oil soap and what was left of the Bruces' hardwood floor cleaner and it looked good until the first person walked on it.......

i will be using the vinegar and Water solution today to clean it up , all close to 2000sq. of it :)

From what Im reading the solution cleans and is good because its natural but does it shine the flooring?

Help! My mother has a rental property where students live. One house has had what looks like straight Murphy's Oil Soap all over the house, on the baseboards, on the tile floors in the kitchen and even on the hearth. It is a mess. The house is over 100 years old and has heart pine floors. Help!! What do we do????

hopefully you've gotten this taken care of, but I would try a solution of white vinegar and water, drying carefully after application.

Get a new husband but you let him did it so you guys are perfect match. Solution for floor, just hot/warm ( not too hot) water and a touch of dishwashing soap.

What a nightmare!

I ran out of my hardwood floor cleaner that came with my shark mop so I went to Walmart and grabbed Murphy Oil because it smelled so good. OMG I had streaks all over the place. I thought it was because it was wet so I kept goin. I used HOT water and a towels and it came up fine and actually made my floors look amazing. It smells so good in my whole house too. I guess the moral to this is a little goes a long way. Just a dap of Murphys and it doesn’t streak at all.

I thought I would really clean my floors and used Finish, Dawn dish soap, vinegar and water. BIG MISTAKE!! my floors were horrible - no shine and sticky. Then I tried baking soda, vinegar, Dawn dish soap and water - WORSE!! HELP please! I am going to try Zeebee's suggestion of just vinegar and water and will wash until I get it back. Hard lesson learned!

Im having my floors resurfaced and taking it from there. i had a cleaning lady who used wallpaper remover to clean a beautiful blood red painted wall … OMG!!!