This probably constitutes Too Much Information but here goes.

Funny to see Murphy's Oil Soap on a Crossfire site. We've used for years but I thought its customers were mainly old ladies and hippies. Murphy's is well-known to furniture restorers and leather and tack workers, such as horse fanciers, because tho gentle it seems to dissolve fats (like sweat) well and then -- unless you rinse well -- the oil in it somewhat replaces the oil which is stripped. It was a previous generation's "Simple Green," and was recommended -- by brand name -- by the US Navy in the '30s for cleaning woodwork on ships.

MOS is what is sometimes known as a "green soap." It is a vegetable-oil-based mild detergent. Used to be made by independent co., Murphy-Phoenix of Beachwood, Ohio. Gobbled up by Colgate-Palmolive in 80s-90s merger mania. Has corporate parent messed with the formula? Who knows.

Main ingredients USED to be water, then a potassium soap derived from vegetable oil. MOS's oils may include cedar oil and citronella. Both of these have natural anti-insect qualities so MOS is recommended for, among other things, washing animals. Keep your Xfire flea-free!

MOS is advertised as biodegradable and phosphate-free. It was tested in 1987 by an OSU lab as fairly alkaline, about 10.5, and Colgate-Palmolive now says it is about 11.0, about the same as ammonia. Altho considered more "natural" by many because derived from veggie oils, not petroleum, it is still a man-made formula and contains surfactants (surface-active agents) and maybe propylene glycol. Colgate says it now contains ethanol as well.

Downsides: some no-wax floor and guitar manufacturers specifically recommend against MOS because of the oil in it, they feel it can leave a damaging wax-like buildup. Even hardwood floor fanciers who like MOS say that sometimes you may need to rinse lightly with a diluted (say, 16:1) water-vinegar solution if there is a dull film that has formed. This is probably more true in areas with hard or acidic water; soap tends to bind to the minerals in hard water, and also bonds to acids. That is why you can use a vinegar solution to clean it up.

Some leather guys say the vegetable oil is not a real replacement for the natural animal fat it can strip from leather.

Colgate-Palmolive says MOS shouldn't be in prolonged contact with aluminum.

I treat MOS like a glycerin soap. If you just use an MOS solution and then wipe with dry cloth as some previous posts suggest, over time there will be a buildup. After using a light MOS solution on anything except horse tackle I also wipe as much off as possible with a damp cloth, then dry ASAP. Always use as little water as possible when working with leather or you can damage and break down the fibre structure.

Comparable vegetable-detergent products include FlaXoap (if you can still find it) and Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap (a true hippie product) which includes hemp and olive oils.

Murphy's is probably A-OK for vinyl trim. I am not going to touch the leather on my Xfire with anything until I find out from CDX what kind of leather they used and what it is finished with. Ditto the finish on the console, which I am guessing is an acrylic. Murphy's is actually recommended by painters for cleaning acryclic paint from brushes, so I don't want to use something that might strip the finish even imperceptibly.