OK....this is going to get ugly.
I'm sorry to say but Murphy's Oil soap is NOT ALLOWED on finished wood floors. The only time Murphy's Oil soap is allowed on wood (...I know, Right? It says its allowed on the bottle so you will buy it...) is when the wood is WAXED pews in a church or some other old fashioned waxed finish.
Murphy's Oil soap has RUINED millions of square feet of wood flooring. And I mean millions and millions of square feet. I'm waiting for someone who will start a class action suit against them. I'm not kidding about that. I really am waiting for it.
Now down to business. You mentioned, "I was wondering if maybe I removed some of the poly when scrubbing with a bristle brush instead of the oil soap."
Ohhhhh....dear....
Sigh....now we have TWO issues and not just one. First off, Murphy's Oil soap is oil. It leaves OIL on the finish (water evaporates....the soap and oil residue does NOT). This oil can and WILL penetrate THROUGH the poly and onto/into the wood. The worst that can happen: your floors will never take more finish again....ever.
Murphy's Oil is a contaminant....just like a gallon of cooking oil left to soak into wood. The wood grabs the oil and holds it. When you try to get new finish (polyurethane) to grab the wood, it can't...because the oil is blocking the poly from grabbing the wood fibres. Now you have a full failure of the finish.
Second issue: you used a bristle brush on a polyurethane finish. We don't allow that level of abrasion on polyurethane. The most aggressive we like to go is a clean white cotton cloth or a microfibre mop head (for lightly damp cleaning with water-only).
My thoughts....you have "etched" your polyurethane finish with the bristle brush. It may or may not be in connection to the use of Murphy's Oil. I would hazard a guess the Murphy's Oil COMPROMISED the poly (oil contaminants can help BREAK DOWN polyurethane) and then the aggressive brush scrubbing then broke THOUGH the poly and etched it.
When polyurethane is heavily scratched or etched it shows WHITE. Just like what you are showing here.
My advise is to call the makers of Murphy's Oil and find and purchase their STRIPPING agent (for every chemical there is a REVERSE chemical that strips it). You will then do EXACTLY what the data sheet tells you to do.
Or better yet, pay to bring in a flooring professional to take off the Oil with their machines/chemicals. They will have seen this once or twice.
Pay them to remove whatever is on there. And then throw out, or better yet send the remains of the bottle to the manufacturer with your repair bill asking for refund and compensation. See what happens....or not. It's your choice....but I for one am getting tired of seeing this over and over again (like DECADES of these issues).
Please post more photos of the floors and tell us a bit more about the age of the floor, etc.
Q
turquois
Q