Glad to know you're a lot better. Good news.

I never believed the steel wool stories until it happened to me (required rubbing right back and refinishing) and I know McCreed has experienced the same thing. The 3M pads are far less messy and last a lot longer, so I don't regret getting and using them.

It may be that some makes of steel wool are more prone to this than others, depending on the composition of the steel.