Although it’s labeled as a wood cleaner, Murphy’s Oil Soap is an effective all-purpose cleaner that has been around for over 100 years. The manufacturer touts the fact that 98% of the ingredients are naturally-derived.

Murphy’s Oil Soap leaves a subtle, natural shine on your hardwood floors–no rinsing required. You don’t need to use very much–in fact, you will leave a sticky residue on your floors if you go overboard.

Just on the main level of our home, I use this product for cleaning hardwood floors, porcelain tile, baseboards, and kitchen backsplash. Other solid wood surfaces where Murphy’s Oil Soap excels are stair railings, balusters, the kitchen table, and chairs.

In the garage and shop, I use it to clean leather seats (always spot test first, of course!), rubber floor mats, and even our vehicles’ wheels. It’s also perfect for scrubbing out trash cans and recycling bins because it deodorizes as it cleans. I love how it gives that “just cleaned” smell to your house without a strong chemical odor.

One bottle will last awhile. Use about 1/4 cup to 1 gallon of warm water for most applications and increase the concentration slightly for heavy cleaning. Using warm or hot water will help the product dissolve better.

As with any cleaning product that you are using for the first time, test it on an inconspicuous surface. While Murphy’s Oil Soap works great on hardwood floors, most manufacturers warn not to use it on engineered wood floors because you are likely to dull and/or damage the finish due to how the wood is sealed. I strongly recommend the Bona line of floor care products for engineered flooring.

Think of Barkeeper’s Friend as a polish for maintaining and restoring surfaces rather than as a cleaner. Comet–which contains bleach–is a better option for routine cleaning and scrubbing, as it also disinfects. Barkeeper’s Friend is the best solution I have found for actually removing surface stains (something that Comet does not do very well) from ceramic and stainless steel surfaces without scratching.

This product is available as the original powdered cleanser in a shaker can or a premixed formula in a plastic bottle. I have used both, but I prefer the powder because you can make a thicker slurry paste if necessary.

I used Barkeeper’s Friend at least once a week in the kitchen. Even with a water softener, we still get light scale and mineral deposits on our faucets from our well water. A light scrubbing with Barkeeper’s Friend removes the build-up and restores their luster. I have used this product to remove years of hard water stains from white ceramic sink basins that I thought would be impossible to remove.

I will be a customer for life because of the time this stuff saves me, especially in the kitchen. While I mostly cook with cast iron these days, we still have a nice set of stainless steel Calphalon pots and pans that we received as a wedding gift. This cleanser makes short work of that thin layer of gunk that remains even after soaking for hours that the dishwasher can’t remove. How many of us can relate to wanting to make something delicious in the slow cooker but at the same time abhorring the thought of having to clean it? Soak it for a few hours then scour it with Barkeeper’s Friend–problem solved.

While I mostly use this in the kitchen and bathroom, I think you’ll find more and more uses for this product the longer you use it. I have been using it outdoors and in my shop lately, including brightening up our exterior light fixtures and cleaning up the working surface of my wet tile saw after finishing a project.

Most chrome finishes such as faucets should be fine, but be careful when using this on inlaid lettering such as the blue/red color gradient overlay on the shower handle. I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally scrubbed off some of the color on mine.

Spot Shot is an important component in my basic automotive detailing kit. My favorite thing about it is that it doesn’t create a messy foam that sprays everywhere you don’t want it to, unlike cheap multipurpose “cleaner/stain remover” aerosols.

Laundry stain removers are meant to soak into the fabric and then be washed and rinsed. Because of this, they can be much thicker than products meant for automotive upholstery and carpet. The problem is that stain removers meant for clothing are almost impossible to remove from automotive fabrics. They may remove the stain, but they often result in large, discolored splotches where you sprayed them.

You might be surprised how quickly you can go through a can treating just a few areas if you are used to using a regular carpet cleaning spray. This is because Spot Shot contains concentrated stain-removing chemicals that comes out more like a liquid than a foam. It is not loaded up with cheap surfactants that serve to fill out the can.

I find myself using this around the house as much as in our vehicles for spills and pet accidents.

Spot Shot leaves a clean smell that most people won’t find offensive. I would almost say that it’s as much a stain remover as it is an air freshener if you love that new car smell.