It’s time to reconsider
the flooring made from flax.

By Lori Hall Steele
      Picture a 1940s housewife in her kitchen. What’s on the floor? That’s right—linoleum, the ubiquitous flooring that dominated U.S. households until the 1960s dawn of no-wax vinyl and orange wall-to-wall shag.
      Turns out, linoleum is back, and it’s back unabashedly. America is waxing nostalgic for this all-natural, long-lasting flooring. Armstrong, the company that led U.S. homes into the linoleum era in 1909, recently resumed linoleum production after a 25-year hiatus, after realizing that homeowners were buying more and more of the flooring—loving its soft feel, quietness, earth-friendliness, durability.
      Even more, people are just plain having fun with linoleum. It can be cut into designs and shaped up walls, making it a plaything for the imaginations of many a homeowner or designer. Today’s linoleum includes not only time-honored color-spattered squares (perfect for checkerboards), but also punchy and earthy colors: fiery red, cobalt blue, matte cinnamon or sassy sage.
      One in ten flooring buyers now are opting for linoleum over vinyl at Traverse City’s Northern Floor and Tile, says salesman Chris Nehil. Buyers tend to be upscale—doctors, dentists, downstaters decorating second homes or high-end cottages—but linoleum really isn’t more expensive than vinyl. It averages $4 per square foot, versus $2.50 to $4.75 for vinyl.
      Though linoleum had been “dead,” Nehil says it’s coming back largely because it’s not a petroleum-based product, like vinyl. It also lasts thirty years, compared to vinyl’s average ten-year lifespan.
      But beyond the green appeal, linoleum is a home-fashion element that’s caught the eye of traditionalists, retro aficionados and artsy types alike. “Linoleum has its own look,” Nehil says. “It’s not trying to imitate tile. Some of it is Art Deco; some is Van Gogh-ish. It’s very stylish and the color selection is fantastic.” Linoleum is easily cut into shapes and can be the raw matter for intricate patterns, inlays and post-modern sweeps of geometry and color. Some manufacturers—notably Forbo—have capitalized on linoleum’s interior design appeal with lines of marbleized, imaginatively hued or texturized linoleum.
      Linoleum was invented in the1860s by Englishman Fredrick Walton, and Armstrong began selling it stateside in 1906—soon promoting it as an all-house floor covering. The 1920s and 1930s were its heyday, and many a home did contain wall-to-wall linoleum.
      Genuine linoleum is made with linseed oil from flax—oleum lino in Latin—which is boiled, then mixed with powdered wood or cork, ground limestone, resins and mineral pigments that produce colors. Heat and pressure form it into 6-foot sheets or 12-by-12-inch squares, all affixed to a jute-fiber backing. Linoleum is long-wearing because of the way it’s manufactured: Its color and construction go through to its backing. (Most vinyl colors and patterns, by comparison, are printed on the surface and protected by a vinyl or urethane layer.)
      Experts suggest professional installation for linoleum sheets to prevent bubbling, seams or buckling, and they encourage doing adequate homework before a do-it-yourself installation of squares. A smooth subfloor is key: ripples, debris, holes or jutting nails will show through relatively thin linoleum. Linoleum adhesive can be tricky to work with for novices.
      Builder David Webster recently worked on a showcase house in Northport (which appeared in July’s Architectual Record) that utilized linoleum-sheet flooring in an entryway to adjacent laundry and powder rooms. The homeowner had a brainstorm, and had different colors of linoleum cut into an arc shape. “All of a sudden,” Webster said, “the floor became a design element.”
Webster’s also got a friend with a 1950s ranch house, where sheet linoleum was wrapped up the wall, creating baseboards. “He ended up leaving it in the house all these years—it was funky and different.”

LINOLEUM CARE
      Today’s linoleum is coated with factory-applied sealers, but it still requires a little more maintenance than vinyl flooring. Linoleum is porous, so to keep up appearances and ensure ongoing resilience, experts suggest at least an annual coating of acrylic sealer.
      Alkalinity—found in many cleansers—will eat into linoleum, and abrasion can cause even more damage. Use simple cleaning products (like dish soap) and sweep or vacuum frequently to remove tracked-in grit. Fats, oils, and greases won’t damage linoleum, but standing water can.

Published in Northern HOME