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How to Remove Murphy Oil Buildup Off Wood Floors

Sal Marco

Murphy Oil Soap is a brand name cleaning product made by Colgate-Palmolive. Murphy Oil Soap has a wide variety of uses including finished wood floors or furniture, ceramic tile, engineered flooring, laundry stains or painted wood.

Soap buildup dulls the appearance of wood floors.

Accidental spills or adding too much soap to the cleaning water leads to an oil soap buildup and leaves a wood floor dull. Removing excess oil soap is necessary to restore the wood floor's surface.

Tip

Murphy Oil Soap cleans surfaces and removes excess wax from floors, which may leave the floor looking as if there is a soap buildup. Add a coat of floor wax to wood floors after heavy cleaning to protect the wood floor surface. Oil, grease and grime buildup may also look like a Murphy Oil Soap buildup.

Warning

Always thoroughly dry wood floors after contact with water to prevent damage. Avoid using excess amounts of water on a wood floor.

  1. Move furniture, rugs and other items to one side of the room.

  2. Fill a bucket with cool water.

  3. Submerge a rag in the water and wring out the excess water.

  4. Swab the wood floor with the damp rag, working in 4-by-4-foot or smaller sections.

  5. Dry the floor immediately with a dry rag.

  6. Rinse the rag in clean water. Drag the rag over the section again and immediately dry the wood floor. Repeat as often as necessary to remove the Murphy Oil Soap buildup from the surface of the wood floor.

  7. Move to the next 4-by-4-foot section of wood flooring and repeat the process until the Murphy Oil Soap buildup no longer remains on the floor. Change rags and water often to prevent redistributing the Murphy Oil Soap over the surface of the wood floor. Continue to work on small sections of the floor until you finish half of the room. Move the furniture, rugs and other items to the clean side and repeat the process on the other side of the room.

The Drip Cap

  • Murphy Oil Soap is a brand name cleaning product made by Colgate-Palmolive.
  • Fill a bucket with cool water.
  • Drag the rag over the section again and immediately dry the wood floor.
  • Change rags and water often to prevent redistributing the Murphy Oil Soap over the surface of the wood floor.