I'd cross post in the paint forum, I'm sure someone there has the answer and reason for it! I've never had the luxury of paining a room that doesn't need several rounds of spackeling and sanding, so I'm always stuck priming and putting on 2 coats. Since it's already white, I would be tempted to do a very, very light sanding with fine sandpaper to take the sheen off a bit and follow with 2 light coats of paint. It may be in my head, but I feel like two thinner coats cover better than one thick coat. I'm absolutely not any type of expert, so that may be the exact opposite of what you should do. But maybe it will stimulate some discussion.

Microfiber that I've ever worked on cleans wonderfully -- all fabrics should clean that easily. Many fabrics are treated at the mill with fabric protectors. If it's offshore -- all bets are off. Some retailers will treat all upholstered goods before delivery. I hot water extract most stains. The technique on microfiber is to agitate with a soft brush. An extremely soft toothbrush would work really well and may be enough that you can just dry-vac up the debris. Every stain has certain cleaners it responds to. I have about 25 different cleaning solutions I use to spot clean. For "Unknown" stains, I just have to start with the most likely and work my way through until one of them works. Usually I can tell by looking, but sometimes I get fooled -- blood can look like chocolate can look like rust. But they take different cleaners. A couple of things that don't do well with microfiber * hot - cigarette embers, incense and candles can all melt the fabric * claws -- puncture wounds, e.g., from cat claws, don't heal up the way they would in woven fabrics. Here is a link that might be useful: sample cleaning

It's kind of hard to type with all that staining! I feel the pain! Yes, I did it by myself (wipe on, wipe off) for 1200 sq. feet of oak! EEK! It won't win any awards but the poly really made it look better...I used Fabulon and rolled it on, cutting in the corners with a brush...this week I have cabinets, a drywall guy coming to make repairs, and general fix ups...I plan on having the wood floor installer come back and buff for the final coat after all this work gets done...can I lay black tarp on top of the floor? Should I use butcher paper and tape it down? Or should I just leave it and hope nothing gets dropped on the floor (like mud from drywall)....thanks!!! Also on installing the quarter round, any preferences on whether to paint to match trim or stain to match floors? I have a built in bookcase and a fireplace hearth that would look weird with the painted trim coming next to it...is it common to mix paint/stain trim? And if so, do you prepaint/stain them before they're nailed in, then just putty the nail holes?? Tara

Thank you very much, Chris and funcolors, especially Chris for your very detailed information. I'll go for BM kitchen and bath satin finish paint. It claims to be self priming on most surfaces. So after sanding to lightly remove the sheen, can I apply the BM paint directly for two coats and skip priming? I interviewed another GC for my bathroom remodel, he also said one coat was enough. They just don't want to take more time to do a better job. I'll offer $100 more for one more coat. If the GC still insisted on one coat only, I would hire a painter later or do it myself. Thank you very much.