Schwarz
View current page
...more recent posts
Armstrong
Genuine linoleum is the original sheet flooring material, first patented by Englishman Frederick Walton in 1863. Although some people still call all sheet floors "linoleum," the real thing is quite different from the vinyl floors that gradually replaced them a century later. Its name derives from the main ingredient, linseed oil. (In Latin, linum is the word for linseed, which comes from the flax plant, and oleum means oil.) The oil is boiled, mixed with melted resins, and combined with powdered cork, wood flour, resins, ground limestone, and other natural materials. Mineral pigments provide the color. This mixture is formed into a durable sheet by applying heat and pressure.