Murphy Oil Soap is an American brand of cleaning product that is manufactured by

Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health car ...

. In 1910, Jeremiah Murphy, director of the Phoenix Oil Company, bought the formula for Murphy Oil Soap from a recent immigrant from Germany. The soap, with its potassium vegetable oil base, and no phosphates, proved to be very popular in Ohio. The company continued to be run by the Murphy family for 80 years, when they sold to Colgate. It is available in a concentrated liquid form which is then mixed with water, as well as pre-diluted form which comes in a trigger spray bottle. Commercials for the product state that the product is ideal for cleaning wood surfaces. The other constituents of Murphy Oil Soap are sodium

EDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid with the formula H2N(CH2CO2H)2sub>2. This white, water-soluble solid is widely used to bind to iron (Fe2+/Fe3+) and calcium ions (Ca2+), forming water-soluble complexes eve ...

propylene glycol Propylene glycol (IUPAC nomenclature, IUPAC name: propane-1,2-diol) is a viscous, colorless liquid, which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. Its chemical formula is CH3CH(OH)CH2OH. Containing two Alcohol (chemistry), alcoho ...

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavoring, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficiently vol ...

surfactants Surfactants are chemical compounds that decrease the surface tension between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsion#Emulsifiers , ...

, and

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

.THE MURPHY-PHOENIX -- MURPHY OIL SOAP LIQUID MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET as published b
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
. FSC: 9160. NIIN: 00B130042. Manufacturer's CAGE: 5R288. MSDS Serial Number: BKLST

Uses

Murphy Oil Soap is commonly used to clean and polish horse tack, such as bridles and saddles. It is also commonly used to clean black-powder weapons after use, since the lack of petroleum-based oil and the presence of vegetable oil lessens the amount of sludge created when cleaning black powder residues from weapons. Murphy Oil Soap has been found to efficiently remove the residue that builds up on automobile wheels and hubcaps from the disc brakes. It is an excellent lubricant to use with water when throwing clay on a

potter's wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...

. Likewise the soap is often used as a release agent for plaster mold making. It has been found to quickly and easily dissolve water-based inks, such as Crayola marker ink, from acid-free paper.Based on testing conducted at the home of an artist, who used the method to create a hybrid drawing/painting technique used here: https://picasaweb.google.com/113536114307687565154/OriginalPaintingsAndDrawings#5908676451537559346 Murphy Oil Soap is also a favorite among artists as a brush cleaner. After removing excess oil paint from the brush with a rag and cleaning with a mineral spirit, the brush can be cleaned with a small amount of diluted soap. Diluted Murphy Oil Soap (2–4%) is often used by home gardeners as an insecticidal soap spray.

References

Cleaning products Colgate-Palmolive brands Products introduced in 1910 {{product-stub

Uses

See also

References