ABOUT LINOLEUM

Linoleum is a detachable, loose floor covering made from linseed oil and hessian, with fillers of flax, chalk, or softwood, which is calendered to a smooth surface. Calendering is the process of squeezing sheet materials between rollers, with close control. Linoleum comes in many bright or muted colours.

Linoleum is soft, resilient, and easy to maintain, but it can suffer from indenting. Linoleum slowly gives off linseed oil vapour, which kills bacteria without being toxic to humans, and it tends to oxidize and harden with age. Concrete is an ideal sub-floor for linoleum and underfloor heating can be used up to about 27 degrees centigrade.

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Linoleum was invented in England in 1863 by Frederick Walton, who coined the name linoleum from the Latin name, linum, which means flax, and oleum, which means oil. Later in the century, Michael Nairn, a flooring manufacturer in Kirkcaldy, Scotland perfected the flooring, introducing qualities such as inlaid patterning — a feature seen today. Linoleum is a flooring that is manufactured by oxidizing linseed oil to form a thick mixture called linoleum cement. The cement is cooled and mixed with pine resin, and wood flour to form sheets on a jute backing. The term, linoleum is often used incorrectly to describe any sheet flooring, when in fact flooring can be made from other materials such as polyvinyl chloride.

LEADING UK LINOLEUM SUPPLIERS

Forbo, headquartered in Switzerland, is a leading supplier of linoleum, under the trade name Marmoleum. Marmoleum linoleum is a versatile and durable floor covering made overwhelmingly from natural and harvestable raw materials such as linseed oil, wood flour, chalk and pine rosin. It is available in 30 colourways. Forbo is the world's largest manufacturer of linoleum, with about 60% worldwide market share, and has been producing linoleum continuously for more than 100 years.

Click here for an easy-to-use listing of leading UK suppliers of linoleum, provided by Archbone.

DETAILED INFORMATION RESOURCES ON LINOLEUM

We recommend the following websites, with building product information including manufacturers' specs, standard specifications, and CAD details: Barbour Compendium, RIBA Product Selector Plus, ASC Bricsnet, Building Products Index, British Board of Agrément, British Standards Online.

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