Thanks everyone for continuing to provide hints here. I'm still learning what works for me, going slowly and trying different things. :-) I am able to tear away the top decorative surface, as fnmroberts says, so I did that first for a small section, and then taped the plastic as christophern said. For soaking, I had been using a small sprayer and sponge method first, then tried a little Dif (gel) to see if that was easier than the hot water/fabric softener solution. (And I happened to have some of that Dif on hand). No clear winner: the Dif doesn't drip as fast as the water does, but I seem to use too much Dif to get the same peelability--and the water mixture is cheaper. :-) My dad suggested to "paint" the Dif on instead of simply spraying it on, and I might try that as an experiment. I don't mind going slowly and experimenting, as I'm learning as I go. I'm going to have to do more of the house down the road, so might as well practice until I know what works for me. My dad thinks I should rent a steamer and get it done asap, but I think then the floors really would get wet! Thanks again for the tips on protecting the floor!

Not all painter's tape is created equal, and certain types are not recommended for hardwood floors. It's also not meant for be left in place for weeks, just until the adjacent paint dries. Your contractor wasn't even using the tape for the right indication, i.e. a painting job. This damage is all on your contractor. You should have your floors repaired as recommended by your flooring installer, and your contractor should pick up the bill. He should have liability insurance to cover this type of problem. Here is a link that might be useful: Painter's tape

Goof Off is a solvent. Solvents DISSOLVE stuff....that's how they work. The solvent has DISSOLVED your finish (and the paint BTW). I'm going to guess that the hazing is because the finish on the floors (being rather fresh) has hazed or etched (the Goof Off has eaten into the finish). And possibly a little bit of paint has been etched in there with it. And the Pledge is going to complicate EVERYTHING. Sigh. At this point, you have nothing more to loose. You can try a bit of rubbing alcohol in this area to see if we can clean up the white and REMOVE the Pledge. Pledge is NASTY! It is wax in a can! And wax PREVENTS refinishing of hardwood. Yah. Prevents "the fix" that needs to be done. Throw out the Pledge and see if a little bit of rubbing ETOH on a CLEAN white cotton cloth will help. If this is hazing/etching/ruined finish then the rubbing ETOH won't help. If it is paint residue then the ETOH MIGHT help. Give it a go. You have nothing left to loose at this point. Once you have done your testing and find the haze is still there, go ahead and call the floor professional back in and explain the ENTIRE story. Including the pledge!!! It is *possible to do a patch repair (it won't look good but it can be done). If you are OK with the patch, then go for it. A few hundred dollars more won't hurt any thing at this point. If you are super picky (some people are...some aren't) then the patch won't be good enough. The top coat of the entire floor will have to be reapplied. The area that needs fixing will get a good sanding and some new layers of finish and then THE ENTIRE floor gets a single top coat to get everything all evened out. And BTW: If you had LEFT the paint where it was and called the painter BACK IN to clean up the mess, this would have been dealt with/paid for by the PAINTER. By stepping in and trying to do a clean up, you've taken on all responsibility of the "clean up mistakes" and painted yourself into a corner. I'm sorry to say but the cure may have been worse than the disease. Good luck. Decide on how perfect you need this area to be before bringing in the floor guy. If you must have perfection, then you will be looking at reapplying the top coat. If you can live with a slight imperfection at a wall, then a little patch will do just fine.

I pulled up very old carpet in my parents old home, which was laid over pet-stained hardwood floors that looked just as bad as yours currently do. I was rehabbing the house to sell it (my parents had died) and a home with hardwood floors in my area sells better than a home with carpet in it. I talked to a competent floor refinisher who told me exactly what yours did - that he could make it better, but it would likely not be "perfect." I decided to give it a try and I'm so glad I did. When he was done, it looked great. Some spots he was able to make completely disappear. The worst ones were still visible, but over all it looked (to me) exactly like an old floor in an old house should look....if that makes any sense at all. It fit with the patina of an older home way better than a perfect/new hardwood floor would. Buyers LOVED the floors. So my advice is that if you can find a really good floor person who knows what they are doing, AND if you have reasonable expectations you should be fine. You're in the same boat I was. Your house is not new construction so as long as you don't expect perfection in the floors, I hope you're as happy with them as I was with mine.