The simplest, quickest, easiest way to get rid of Aphids is a sharp stream of water to knock the wee buggers off the plant. A hand held spray bottle does work really well for this because your garden hose pressure could wreak havoc to the plant. If an Insectidical Soap is desired, and it is not really as effective as simply knocking the buggers off the plant, you need a real soap and none of the "dish soaps" are soaps. The "dish soaps" are detergents which can cause serious harm to plants. Murphy's Oil Soap is a real soap and can be used just as an of the other real soaps. Mix 1 teaspoon of that soap in 1 quart of water. More often than not when spraying the IS on Aphids you knock the wee buggers off the plant anyway so adding the soap to the water is not all that more effective. Spaying with the IS after you clean that generation of Aphids off the plant may help control the future generations that will be moving in. The best, most effective means of control of Aphids is to be sure the soil your plants are growing in is a good, healthy soil that will grow strong and healthy plants that will be less attractive to insect pests such as Aphids.

I'm a bit late to this discussion lol but I'm curious as to why it's not ok to use neem oil with Safer insect killing soap? The original Safer insecticidal soap is only potassium salts of fatty acids... No sulfur. Safer brand does also make a 3-in-1 concentrate which contains both sulfur and potassium salts of fatty acids, but this is not their original or only product. On a further note, castile soaps like Dr. Bronner's usually contain potassium hydroxide. Potassium salts of fatty acids are made by combining natural plant oils with alkali - typically potassium hydroxide. As far as I can tell, castile soaps & Safer insecticidal soap are very similar... P.S. Salts based on long chain fatty acids are the best/safest for plants. Salts made from shorter length fatty acids can have higher phytotoxicity.

I know I only have regular thrips (frankinwhatever) but I had them BAAAAD and maybe some of you will find this worth a try. I tried spraying with something nasty once 4 years ago- (it worked, temporarily) but decided quickly it wasn't worth the health of myself and the planet to spray my garden routinely for thrips and so last year I switched to organic soaps only and added nematodes to the soil. It helped to a degree. But I started this year with a pretty bad infestation (leaves more yellow from stippling, than green- all flowers scarred or just unable to open) and after watching my purchased lady bugs fly off, again, I decided I needed to quit killing aphids with the soap so the ladybugs would stay and lay some eggs, so then the lady bug nymps (alligators! who can't fly!) would be there eventually and eat the thrips. ... and doing nothing worked great. I also had a bunch of minute pirate bugs and lacewings adopt my garden (yay! first time ever) and the thrips now have predators to eat them and seem to be gone. No more nose full of bugs when I sniff. I look to make sure there isn't pirate in there ready to bite me now tho! But No more ruined blooms. I did a google search on "aphids and thrips" and found that some people agree- you need aphids to get rid of thrips. The aphids do so little damage, and they've been eaten up anyway now too. So- I know I didn't have chili thrips, but I found that even the soap left me worse off than before for the regular thrips since it was removing all predators of thrips. I don't have any other problem bugs in the garden I can't squish (no JB, no sawflies etc.) so I understand my solution isn't for everyone- just tossing this out for those who may only have a severe flower thrip problem.

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.