Vinyl Construction

How Vinyl is made.

In this section we explain how vinyl is made.

This information can be very advantageous because it enables you to understand the product’s
materials and evaluate its performance aspects: why certain vinyl floors wear better and longer.

Understanding how vinyl is created can also make you a smarter shopper, help you determine
vinyl value and keep you within your project budget.

Rotogravure Construction: take your imagination out for a
spin.

The manufacturing of vinyl flooring uses highly precise, sophisticated techniques, and complex
methods.

The rotogravure printing process is the most commonly used method for making residential vinyl
floors. It offers you unlimited possibilities in pattern and design.

This involves a print cylinder that spins around while the vinyl’s core layer or gel coat passes
underneath.

The cylinder systematically prints various colored ink dyes to create the pattern.

After the print dyes are set, a clear wear layer usually made of urethane or PVC is applied to the
surface.

The appearance retention of a rotogravure vinyl floor is dependent on the durability of the clear
wear layer.

The importance of the wear layer.

The wear layer is absolutely critical to the performance of your vinyl floor – and key longevity
of the material.

The thickness of the wear layer varies with each vinyl product collection and is generally
measured in mils. Thicker mil = better quality and higher price.

The thickness of a mil is about the same as a page in your telephone book.

So a 10-mil wear layer would be comparable in thickness to about 10 pages of your phone book.

Your expectations for how long your vinyl floor will look new and fresh are based on the wear
layer’s performance.

Understanding the wear layer construction helps you define what the performance characteristics
are that you looking for in a vinyl floor.

When a floor begins to look old and drab it is usually caused by hundreds of fine hairline
scratches in the wear layer. These fine scratches come from dirt, grit and sand on the wear layer
surface.

The new generation of vinyl floors has all the ingredients to resist showing wear and staining.
So the beauty, style and value certainly puts vinyl in the running as a possible flooring for your
home.

We hope this information gives you a better understanding of how this stylish and versatile
product is created, and how a well-chosen vinyl floor can help make your home.

These performance characteristics can be divided into these areas:

Easy to clean
Stays looking like-new
Resists staining from normal household products
Doesn’t show scratches easily
Easy to clean up spills
The easy to clean characteristic relates to how tough it is to remove soiling and other marks from the floor’s surface.

When a floor begins to look old and drab it is usually caused by hundreds of fine hairline scratches in the wearlayer.

These fine scratches come from dirt, grit and sand on the wearlayer surface.

However there’s good news. The new generation of vinyl floors has all the ingredients to resist showing wear and staining. Plus all the beauty, style and value to certainly put vinyl in the running as a possible flooring for your home.

Those are the basics of vinyl construction and manufacturing.

We hope this information gives you a better understanding of how this stylish and versatile product is created, and how a well-chosen vinyl floor can help make your home.