linoleum!

Had class earlier this week, which featured a guest speaker from Forbo Flooring. They make flooring (really? yes.), the super durable kind. They're responsible for like 65% of the linoleum produced in North America, 85% worldwide. Anyway, I learned some pretty interesting stuff about linoleum--they call it marmoleum, I think there's some kind of trademark issue there, whatever--which I will now share. It's that interesting. Linoleum was invented in 1860. I shit you not. The guy who came up with it was knighted for his contribution to the British Empire. That's so hot. Yes, I am still infatuated with Georgian England.

Linoleum was really popular for a long time, then started to be replaced with vinyl floorings in the 50s. But vinyl is awful! It's all off-gassing petrochemicals and rapid manufacturing. The green movement is spawning a renewed interest in linoleum, and companies like Forbo saw it coming and have a bazillion new styles and colors ready. Unlike vinyl, linoleum is made of all natural ingredients. You start with linseed oil and resin, heat and mix those together with wood flour, cork flour and limestone. It turns into a gelatinous, rubbery blob that has to cure for a few weeks before being pressed and rolled into sheets that are adhered to a burlap backing. Then it cures some more. The pigments are the only "chemical"ish ingredients, everything else is renewable (well, maybe the limestone isn't) and compost-able. It's durable (the rep showed us a piece from Radio City Music Hall's stage--it looked brand new but was really old), antimicrobial and relatively cheap. Seriously, you can put this in your kitchen and barely do any maintenance and it'll still look good sixty years from now. I want to marry it. It looks amazing in the house I'm building for myself in my mind, and I'm using the money I've saved by not using terrazzo to put in CaesarStone counter tops. Which are produced in an environmentally conscious manner, though they have to be shipped from a kibbutz in Israel. Maybe I can still work terrazzo into an imaginary bathroom or something.

always, carolyn