Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - splotchiness after staining

I totally sanded my hardwood floor. It was free of all old stain. I then applied a stain, getting the color I desired. After letting dry, there are parts that appear wet still(shiny), but are not. Should I go ahead and put down my polyurethane and hope it all blends? Got any suggestions about getting shininess out?

It should be ok, did you wipe off the excess stain when you applied it?

The only problem I can forsee if the stain wasn't wiped is the hard areas [where it's shiny] might have the stain disolved when you apply the wet poly.

It is common for both stain and 1st coat of poly to look a little irregular because it isn't a finished product.

btw - welcome to the diy forums!

What type of stain and what wood is the floor?

I refinished our maple floors when we bought our present house and used a water based stain to make the light colored wood a shade darker.
I used a water based stain and found the same problem occured with uneveness to the color and brush marks even after having used their special applicator.

When I contacted the company they said that water based stains tended to penetrate less that oil types and I should have used the applicator to give the desired effect.

Needless to say after having let the stain thoroughly dry I had to totally sand the stain off and just left the floor natural.