Here is how I have dealt with a similar situation. The POs were covering up damage on oak hardwoods with area rugs. I am guessing that in addition to their petÂs accidents, they shampooed the area rug in place which further damaged the floors. We found out about the damage two hours before closing on the house during the final walk-through. This is a very temporary solution and is not the correct way to fix the damage; the experts on this board can advise you how to do that. Wash the floor on your hands and knees (or sitting on the floor using a small amount of water, MurphyÂs oil soap, scrub brushes, scrubbies, and old terry towels- whatever it takes to clean the floor. Do a small section at a time, and rinse with clear water using a clean towel and dry each section thoroughly as you go along. Be careful with the waterÂdonÂt pour it onÂyou donÂt want to cause more damage than is already there. This will take a long time as you will be crawling around the floor. With a damp sponge mop using water and vinegar, rinse again. Remember while you need the water to clean the floor, water also damages the floor. DonÂt let pooling water sit on the floor. Dry it with a towel. On the stains you can try several things to at least lighten the color of the damaged spots. I used a combo of lightly sanding and household bleach. The stains have not disappeared, but they are lighter and cleaner. Wait till the next day or several hours to be sure the floor is completely dry and temporarily fill in the spots where the poly is gone due to damage of pet stains, water and sanding/bleaching by judiciously using a small amount of wipe-on-poly. Wipe-on-poly is for furniture and is not recommended for floors, but a small amount can fill in and blend the areas where the floor poly is completely gone. After the poly is completely dry, use a shine product. I used Holloway House Quick Shine for about $9.00 (Orange Glow does not work). I have added a few throw rugs and the floor looks about 50% better and will get me buy until I can have the floors refinished.

I just had to clean up a stubborn mess of Italian salad dressing from my hardwood floors. The mess was the remnants of an incident that happened a while back. My sister was opening the bottle of dressing and it must have been spoiled because as soon as the cap was loosened, it blew off and salad dressing went everywhere including nooks, cracks and crevices. It also made a very loud noise that made everyone present jump. Talk about contents under pressure! We spent most of the evening cleaning it up, but apparently missed a few hidden spots. These areas became sticky and nothing I used would get them clean. After reading several sites that recommended a mix of 50/50 alcohol and distilled water, I tried that. It worked like magic and my floor looks like new! Just spray on and wipe off. There were a few stubborn spots that required a little elbow grease, but not much. This mix is my new 'go to' when I have a stubborn stain to remove. Do a test spot first, as this mix can damage some varnished and/or painted finishes. I saw the date of the thread, maifleur, but since there may be new people with a similar problem, I thought I'd go ahead and post my experience.

Well I will tell you, the yellow will turn to orange and the 'white' will turn to a dark yellow. Do you like that idea? No? Then stop them right now and have the fresh coat of poly removed. Start again with a sealant and a water based finish. If you do NOT like yellow then you will NOT like the orange they turn. It is NOT the wood. It is the finish. Oil poly will turn white-board orange...no need to add a stain. It does by oxidizing and exposure to UV (aka. "light"). The only thing that stops the 'ambering' is to work with something OTHER than oil poly. Do you have photos? Did you know that white oak has tannin pull? The yellow tannins (colour) in the wood can migrate from the MIDDLE of the plank to the SURFACE of the plank? This can happen with either oil or water based but it is MOST noticeable with water based. The only thing I can say is: Yellow = normal. Orange (soon to come) = normal. Strong colour variations between planks = normal. Do not pull the planks unless you can be given 100% assurance it won't happen again (hint: no one will give it to you). You ONLY pull planks if the issue is with the finish application (ie. the person allowed puddles in the finish).

Mix dishwashing detergent with hot water to make suds foam. Swish to make lots of foam. Dip cloth in foam and apply foam to the numeric stain. Wait a few minutes and then rinse with clean damp cloth & water. When dry, polish or wax. If this does not work, it may be a permanent stain.