How Is Vinyl Flooring Made

Vinyl flooring is manufactured using highly sophisticated production techniques that involve complex processing and precise controls. The resulting vinyl floor covering is of high quality, durability, and performance.

From painted wooden floors that could be maintained easily, the 18th century saw the use of thick pieces of fabric used to keep the floors clean. Over time, thick fabrics such as canvas and linen were coated with oil and paint to make it waterproof and easier to maintain. Oil cloths slowly evolved into linoleum that was manufactured with linseed oil, cork dust, wood flour, pigment, etc., over canvas. They were immensely popular from the late 1800s to mid-1900s. By late 1950s, floor-covering manufacturers tried to replace linoleum with more durable and resilient material, and as a result vinyl was born. Vinyl floor-covering is available either as sheets or tiles.

The raw materials that go into the manufacture of vinyl flooring are polyvinyl chloride resins, pigments, plasticizers, and a backing or carrier sheet. The backing is of felt or paper made out of wood pulp along with calcium carbonate.

How Vinyl Sheet Floor-covering Is Made

The resins and plasticizers are mixed together and the resulting mixture is called plastisol. To the plastisol is added an AZO compound. On heating this compound, the vinyl foam is produced which has the consistency of batter. This is usually spread on the backing. The backing is passed through rollers for an even coat and then heated in an oven. In the oven, the vinyl foam absorbs the plasticizer and sets into a gel. The gelled vinyl is then run through the printing press to create the patterns on the vinyl. A second layer of a mixture of the plasticizers and vinyl are placed on the gelled sheet and further baked in an oven at a higher temperature. This is used to create the wear layer on the vinyl floor-covering sheet. The patterns are protected by this wear layer. Patterns can take on either a matte finish or a gloss finish. The gloss finish is brought about by applying a layer of polyurethane coating using rollers that are controlled to produce layers of uniform thickness. Sheets of dimensions 12 ft. X 1500 ft. are then cut according to requirements of the retailers.

How Vinyl Tile Floor-covering Is Made

Vinyl tiles are made using ways that are different from that of the vinyl sheet. The polyvinyl resins are mixed with plasticizers, pigments, resins and calcium carbonate. This mixture is heated up to its melting point and then consolidated to form a compound that has a consistency similar to that of bread dough. This dough is passed through calendar rollers where it is pressed into sheets. The sheets are then embossed with patterns and are thereafter cut into tiles of size 12 in. X 12 in. Optionally, glue is fixed to the tiles for affixing on the floor. This glue coating is covered with a paper layer for protection.

Vinyl sheet floor-covering may be 15 or 30 mils thick. The latter is more rugged. Patterns are printed with the help of a rotary press that uses a printing process called rotogravure printing. Cheap vinyl flooring sheets and tiles are available in a variety of attractive designs and colors. Vinyl flooring is easy to install. They can be easily cut to reach corners and fit into curves. They may be applied over existing floors and can be easily cleaned with soap and water. They need not be waxed and remain glossy for many years. However, vinyl flooring may have to be replaced periodically.