What's on your Floor?

I tried one of those DIY steam cleaning mops over the weekend. Wow, were my carpets dirty! In fact, I was so disgusted by my efforts that I wanted to pull them up immediately. But if I did that, I’d just be exposing cold, grey concrete, not old timber floor boards, which I could live with.

So, considering health and hygiene as well as environmental issues, what’s the best type of flooring to live with?

Carpet

Let’s start with carpet, probably the most common floor covering used Australia wide. It’s certainly not the ideal choice for sensitive and allergic people - dust mites, bacteria, pesticides, toxic anti-stain and fire retardant chemicals – and that’s before you even get it laid. Of course, there are natural carpets like wool, silk, sisal and coir, which don’t get “Scotch-guarded” but if they’ve been shipped to Australia from overseas then they will have definitely been fumigated for pests. All carpets except for pure wool are treated with fire retardants.

Steam cleaning without any cleaning chemicals is the safest option for freshening and cleaning carpets but don’t think you’ve sanitised them. You’ll never get on top of the dust mites, mould spores, bugs and dirt, even if you steam clean weekly. And if your carpets have been treated with brominated fire retardants and perfluorinated chemicals (Scotch Guard), then you’ll just accelerate the off-gassing of these dangerous VOCs.

Without even addressing the issue of underlays (natural rubber is the safest), I’ve convinced myself that I will not be using carpet in any new home and I will seriously consider removing our existing carpet should we decide to stay where we are.

Ceramic Tiles

We all have tiles – at least in the bathroom and kitchen – so are they any better than carpet? Ceramic tiles are produced from clay fired at very high temperatures, then coated with toxic glazes. The whole process of tile manufacturing is quite polluting. Making just 1 kg of tiles results in emissions of 0.2 to 0.4 grams of fluorine compounds and 0.01 to 0.1 grams of lead.

Then there’s the tile adhesive and grout. Gwarehouse carries the Livos Natural Tile Adhesive, which is free from harmful VOCs and there are safer grouting products available. When properly laid and grouted, ceramic tiles are much easier to keep clean than carpet.

Lino

Natural linoleum flooring (Lino) is making a comeback – it’s made from a mixture of linseed oil, wood dust, cork and natural pigments. Easy to clean and long-lasting, it’s a good alternative to tiles, particularly in wet areas but it does need to be glued into place. Livos also makes a Natural Universal Adhesive which can be used to safely glue lino, cork, carpet or jute.

Timber Flooring

Recycled timber flooring is attractive and durable but can be expensive and hard to get. Healthwise, the main problem with timber flooring is the formaldehyde-containing sealants its often treated with. There are safer alternatives, including Livos Ardvos or Kunos which protect timber floors naturally rather than create a plastic coating.

Concrete

Polished concrete seems like the simplest flooring solution and although it’s not the most eco friendly material to produce, most of us already have it as the base of our houses. If installed properly, it’s very durable and long lasting and as long as toxic sealants aren’t used, it will not off gas harmful VOCs or trap mould, dust or bacteria.  Livos also has products such as Kunos, which can create a glossy finish and Kaldet, which can be used to stain concrete.

Bamboo

In case you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned bamboo, that’s because I’ve already written an earlier blog on this much touted eco-friendly flooring option, What's so Green about Bamboo?