If you've already renovated a kitchen or are just beginning the process, you know how overwhelming the details can be. Our Fittings and Material Spotlights are quick guides to basic kitchen fixtures and materials to familiarize you with terminology, pros and cons, and relevant reader reviews. Today we look at linoleum flooring - that is, real linseed linoleum flooring, not the cheap vinyl sheets that are often called linoleum. Do you know there's a difference? Learn more below:
Material: Linoleum
Overview: Real linoleum is an all-natural flooring option made of linseed oil, cork dust, wood flour, tree resins, ground limestone and pigments, all pressed onto a jute backing. It's long-lasting, easy to clean, and often contains recycled content.
Not To Be Confused With: Sheet vinyl. The word "linoleum" is often used incorrectly to describe any kind of sheet flooring, like PVC-based sheet vinyl, which is a very different product and without any of the eco-friendly, durable qualities of traditional linoleum.
Brands: Forbo Marmoleum, Nova Linoleum
Environmental Impact: Traditional linoleum is biodegradable, non-toxic, and formaldehyde-free, so it won't off-gas noxious chemicals into your home.
Pros: Durable, naturally anti-static and anti-microbial, over 120+ colors and designs to choose from, non-toxic, biodegradable, made from renewable resources, easy to install and maintain, colors deepen and patinas get richer when exposed to sunlight.
Cons: Somewhat porous and susceptible to acids.
Installation: Very DIY-able. Typically sold in sheets or individual tiles, which easily click together when installed over a smooth, flat subfloor.
Price range: $4.40 - $6.50 per square foot
Kitchn Reader Reviews:
We have Marmoleum, which I love - it's eco-friendly, easy to clean and comes in much better colors than the old 70's linoleum patterns. - Sisterrae
SO thrilled to see Marmoleum (linoleum) flooring installed and getting amazing comments. Too often, the hideous vinyl flooring a lot of us grew up with in our parents' kitchens is wrongly pegged as "linoleum" giving it a really bad name. Linoleum is a natural product created from linseed, has an amazingly long lifespan, and great for use in high-traffic areas. I worked on the interior design of the renovated Pasadena City Hall and some of the restrooms had the ORIGINAL linoleum that had been installed in the '20s - in amazing shape with the most beautiful patina. - Dunbar72
Real linoleum here and I'm happy with it. I was going to tile for a color change and going "upscale" but then I got to like the easy to clean (no seams or grout lines) aspect and learned to like the colors (not that bad really, brown/tan/orange). And the fact that it was eco friendly when installed pre-1955 and is eco friendly by still being in good condition is a bonus. - Faith BCK
Readers, do you have real linoleum flooring, either vintage or else made by Marmoleum or another authentic linoleum brand?
Related: Survey: What Kind of Kitchen Floors Do You Have?
(Images: Top photo - Leela Cyd Ross; Gallery - 1. Bethany Nauert; 2. Marmoleum; 3. Leela Cyd Ross)
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Thank you for covering this, I feel like this is a big misnomer and linoleum is actually a lovely flooring choice.
Yeah, great post! A few months ago I was doing some internet research on green flooring options and was surprised to come across linoleum. It's a pretty amazing material (another example of how our grandparents were more "green"), and now I can't wait to someday put it in my dream kitchen.
We have Marmoleum and love it. It totally fits the era of our house, has a lovely matte glow; it's kind to dropped plates and has a nice give under the feet (big advantages over tile, in my opinion), and though we've had it 8 years it looks brand new. Wears like iron, just as advertised -- we have an excitable black lab whose claws have wrecked our wood floors, but not the linoleum!
Yeah, what's the deal with this stuff anyway? I just starting noticing it here on AT as of late. Sounds like the perfect flooring, but I don't see it very much.
Does anyone know if the flooring from this kitchen tour is linoleum?
http://www.thekitchn.com/kitchen-tour-laurens-sleek-sea-150870
@PLEIOVN, I think it's just because most people mistake linoleum for vinyl (as I did myself for a long time).
I love this option for my kitchen - it's a mid-30s house that we're working on room by room. Thanks for the reminder!
we are installing forbo marmoleum next month. the sample looks great and i cannot wait to see it in place.
Pretty sure we have linoleum in our kitchen (house built in 1947 and has not been upgraded much since then). The floor is impossible to keep clean - it is beige with a dull finish and does not stay clean for more than a day.
Is it possible to wax linoleum floors using a household floor wax? We rent, so we are not able to completely refinish the floors, but if there's some way to keep the floor from getting dirty so quickly, I'd love to hear it.
We put dark red swirled Marmoleum in our mid-century kitchen. (When we pulled up the pink and white vinyl right before laying the Marmoleum we found original but damaged olive green underneath so we were definitely going authentic.) It feels good on the feet and back, doesn't have any grout to deal with BUT it is a nightmare to keep clean. Within an hour of a good washing it looks dirty again. So I've taken to sweeping it every day but wash it less than once a week, because it looks the same dirty or clean. Wish I hadn't used it and I have read the same comment from many people online.
Interesting, I had no idea! I really like the options at Forbo. I thought ugly big box store sheet vinyl was going to be my only option for a future kitchen reno.
We have almond and sunny yellow Marmoleum checker laid on the diagonal in our kitchen. We installed it ourselves about two years ago, we are very pleased. Still looks perfect except for the gouge from our son falling off a stool and taking a heavy stainless steel burner cover down with him. The Marmoleum folks said to mix Marmoleum sandings with white glue and fill the gouge with that, haven't tried yet, though.
It is so easy to wipe up and soft on the feet/dropped dishes, would do it again in a heartbeat. Install was a little tricky, it would be hard for a complete novice to make it look professional. However, if you know a little bit about tools and are aware of how to undercut door jambs and trim it out for a nice appearance, then it will turn out great!
The kitchen of our 1942 house had linoleum tile put in a around 2000. White with black accent areas. I can't really call it white because it won't stay clean! We had it professionally cleaned before moving in in 2004, but aren't going to empty the kitchen to reseal it.
That floor is raised about 1/2" from the dining room. We're thinking about removing it and seeing if the oak floors continue into the kitchen. If they do and are in good shape, we'll stick with that. If not, some nice hex tile would be perfect in there. Keeping the cabinets no matter what, they were built with the house and have few sharp corners--all rounded, like streamline moderne, but not exaggeratedly so.