Vinyl floor
Vinyl flooring is a floor covering made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) .
history
Vinyl floor is the modern variant of the classic PVC floor . From the 1960s onwards, PVC floors were widely used in apartments, stairwells, offices and in industrial and administrative buildings. They were inexpensive, easy to care for, insensitive to water and dirt and easy to keep clean by wiping with a damp cloth. PVC floors fell into disrepute due to the harmful evaporation of the plasticizers contained in soft PVC at the time . PVC is also flammable. This creates toxic gases such as hydrogen chloride, dioxins and also aromatics. Major fires in connection with PVC contributed to rethinking.
The industry initiated an improvement with the “Vinyl 2010” and “Vinyl Plus” (until 2020) initiatives. In particular, the absence of harmful substances and recycling are important goals. The placing on the market and the use of phthalate as a plasticizer have been prohibited in the EU since 2015 .
Mesamoll is now used as a plasticizer to replace phthalate .
properties
Vinyl flooring is hygienic and easy to care for. The floor is warm to the feet. It is insensitive to moisture. However, it has a rather negative effect on the indoor climate, as PVC neither absorbs nor releases moisture and therefore has no moisture-regulating effect. Solid vinyl is also suitable for damp rooms, for hospitals and kindergartens. Insensitivity to acids and alkalis makes full vinyl suitable for industrial buildings and laboratories.
Vinyl is available in any decors and colors. By structuring the surface, a special "grip" is achieved ( haptics ). By combining optics and surface structure, stone or wood decors can also be reproduced true to nature, whereby the lack of a cool feel to the stone is confusing in the case of stone imitations.
The noise development in the room (ambient sound ) and in adjoining rooms ( impact sound ) is lower than with laminate floors. The sound-absorbing film required for floating installation reinforces this advantage.
The sensitivity to scratches is greater than that of laminate. Even small stones under shoes or hard castors can cause scratches. On the other hand, dishes break significantly less than on laminate, wooden or stone floors.
execution
Vinyl on HDF
Vinyl on HDF are approx. 10 millimeter high boards, as a laminate of a vinyl layer on an HDF layer. The floorboards are laid floating, i.e. without gluing. Vinyl floors require an impact sound insulation film as the substrate, which is sometimes already integrated as the bottom layer in click systems.
Solid vinyl
Solid vinyl or full vinyl is available as a roll or as a click system, each up to 5 millimeters thick. Rolls are available in the standard widths of 3, 4 and 5 m. It is usually laid floating, in industrial buildings it is often glued. Click vinyl is laid floating, less often self-adhesive. Floating vinyl floors require an impact sound insulation film as the substrate, which is sometimes already integrated as the bottom layer in click systems.
Product names
Manufacturers use different names for their products in advertising, for example "phthalate-free", "pollutant-free" or "pollutant-tested" or even "PVC-free". With the large EU manufacturers, however, one can assume that no harmful plasticizers are used in vinyl floors.
Vinyl flooring should not be confused with linoleum , which is made from linseed oil and natural resins, as well as cork or wood flour, limestone powder and other components and a jute fabric as the carrier layer.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Institute f. Occupational medicine: Phthalates are harmful to health
- ↑ Hydrochloric acid as a combustion product of PVC
- ↑ Major fire at Orbitaplast in 1986
- ↑ Fire disaster at Düsseldorf Airport in 1996
- ^ Vinyl 2010 - the sustainability initiative of the European PVC industry
- ^ Vinyl-Plus - Progress Report 2014 , vinylplus.eu
- ↑ EU ban on phthalates DEHP, BBP, DBP, and DIBP since January 26, 2015
- ↑ EU ban generally understandable