Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: kitchen flooring Marmoleum

[Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah (welcome]

I have sheet Marmoleum in my home kitchen and bathroom, and in our common house 
kitchen and media (was Kid) room. What I can tell you about Marmoleum in the 
common kitchen:

Dropped dishes nearly bounce, don't break. Dark red color is attractive; 
mottled design is forgiving of spills.
Cooks appreciate the flexibility of the flooring (on sprung base).
It will chip, take out a small chunk, if something heavy and metal falls on it.
It will soften and corrode from chemicals such as may splash under our 
commercial-sanitizer dishwasher, leaving pitted area. Watch out for this.

Definitely ok to wax it. Several times a year I wash the floor with an old 50s 
machine with two whirly brushes (picture an ad showing smiling wife in high  
heels, apron and pretty dress wielding this appliance with her fingertips...)
I dump a quart of water (with just a touch of cleaner in it) on the floor, 
whirly-brush it, using a long-handled squeegee to move the puddle around. Wipe 
up the final puddle of now-dirty water. Damp mop it. Let dry.
Use a mop or rag to spread around a good dense liquid polish (the one I've used 
for years went out of business). 
When the polish is dry, go back over it with the whirly brusher for a glossy 
finish. 
The rest of the time, just damp mop. 

This reminds me to share that Forbo, the manufacturer of Marmoleum, makes a 
superb bulletin board material. I'll post that separately, to be searchable.

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau
RoseWind Cohousing, long-built in Port Townsend WA
www.rosewind.org