I also have read that Murphy's will "ruin" hardwood floors, in that it leaves a residue that prevents a new finish (when you are ready to refinish) from adhering. I was sick when my wonderful house sitter cleaned my Swedish finish floors with it. I also read it can soften/cloud the finish. I never was able to read/find what to do to try to undo the damage. They are fine now and it's been maybe 10 years, but don't know if they will ever be able to be refinished. ETA: here is something I found that might help: If you have solid hardwood with a urethane finish, using products like Murphys Oil Soap or Orange Glo can create a cloudy residue. To remove the residue, clean with a 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water solution and a damp sponge -- Not overly wet. THEN dry with clean towels. Windex has been known to reduce the cloudy film as a 3rd part to this step... but you may have to do it every time you use water/vinegar Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_4723640_effectively-clean-hardwood-floors.html

I have the same problem! It's so frustrating. We 104 year old white pine floors that we refinished and coated with Bona. A sealer and two coats. We used a sealer and two coats on the Doug fir floors elsewhere in our house and they are VERY smooth, the floor is like one continuum. We refinished maple floors in our former home - no problem there. The oak has tons of grain rise. So so bumpy. I thought it might be due to a) the large-ish gaps between most of the boards - the poly got thinned out as it sank into the holes and b) short cure time of the sealer since the weather was cool and damp. I lightly sanded between the coats of poly. Our plan is to buff, recoat and repete. Do you guys think the rentalable buffer would sand it down enough?

OK...so the order is straight for me. Your GC is your hire. Excellent. That means the GC must keep in contact with you during the fixes to all of these oopsas. When working with a 2 part finish it is NEARLY impossible to mix a small batch AND create the same gloss level. The PERFECTION is in the milliliter range. Yes. If you mix 100ml TOTAL you need to be at a level of perfection that only an Insulin syringe can create. Yes. The sheen is THAT sensitive. Sad to say but the floor plate 'cure' was worse than the disease. Once the floor plate was put back on the slightly darker area would have been completely covered. Now the gloss level around the floor plate has a very different sheen. The only fix to this is to do a buff and coat (add one more coat to the ENTIRE floor in that area.

As much as I love them, my dogs are the bane of my existance...and just made me realize, they are why I do so many topics on cleaning floors! lol Muddy paw prints only go so far and I use damp paper towels wiping them up. But try washing drool. That's why I bought a Hoover Floor Mate I only use it on tile and when the kitchen floor has excess slobber. It does a good job but I have to go slow. Slobber is one of the worst things to clean after a floor dries. It's a must that I have a cleaning agent for my floors. Anyone want two giant dogs? :)