The recent, blessedly brief return of platform shoes reminds us that trends run in cycles. Everything old eventually gets to be new again – or at least retro. That's also true of materials in homes. Today's award for "best new spin on a venerable building product" goes to – linoleum.

It's even got the title role in the new Tom Hanks movie. That long walk on Death Row from a prison cell to the electric chair is ordinarily referred to as the "last mile," but in the Stephen King book the film is based on, it's "The Green Mile," because the floor is covered with green linoleum. The movie, which opened this month, is set in the '30s, when linoleum was the flooring of choice not only for commercial and institutional buildings but also for homes.

Now let's be clear: Linoleum is not the stuff on most kitchen floors today. That's resilient vinyl. Real linoleum, patented in England in 1860, is made of linseed oil from flax – oleum lino, in Latin – mixed with powdered wood and/or cork, ground limestone, resins, drying agents and pigments, all on a backing of jute fiber.

Gold stars to everyone who noticed that all the items in that list are natural materials and, for the most part, sustainable resources. That fact isn't lost on designers and homeowners who have an interest in "green" and "earth-friendly" building materials.

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

Linoleum in the home went out of favor in the '60s, with the advent of the easy-care vinyls that kept a shiny surface without weekly waxing. Armstrong Floors, one of the last U.S. producers, stopped making it in the firm's Lancaster, Pa., plant in 1974. Many commercial buildings continued to use it, though, because it's more durable than vinyl. Distributors imported it from European manufacturers such as DLW in Germany and Forbo in the Netherlands. It's still mostly an import today, but interest in the material is growing.

It wasn't just sentiment that prompted Armstrong to get back in the linoleum business by purchasing DLW last year. The company launched a reborn line of linoleum tile and sheet flooring under the Armstrong name just a few months ago. Although its pitch is aimed at the commercial market, some homeowners and designers have hopped on board, recognizing that this material has advantages others don't.

Amy Knapp lives in a house built in 1927 in the Palisades neighborhood in the District. "When we moved in, the dining room still had its original linoleum, and it looked great." She opted to replace that floor with wood, but when she redid her kitchen last March, Knapp chose linoleum. "We got a DLW sheet floor, in an aqua-green. It's soft underfoot – my son was still at that falling-down stage – and it feels warm. It looks great with our concrete counters. And I really liked the fact that it's made from natural materials."

For Lisa Weinstein, though, linoleum's big attraction was the way it looked. Her downtown condo also was built in the 1920s. "Someone had replaced the original black and white checkerboard linoleum kitchen floor with shiny vinyl." She and her mother, Susan Agger, a designer in the District, found Forbo linoleum tiles at Rockville's Floor Gallery, one of the few local installers that do many residential linoleum installations.

"I was looking for that authentic look in a matte finish," Weinstein said, "and while I saw it in ceramic tile, that was too hard and cold – I have a 2-year-old." Linoleum, just like the condo's original floor, works for her.

According to Matt Seidman of Stanley Stephens, the Annapolis Junction distributor of Forbo, "95 percent of local installations are still large commercial ones." But Floor Gallery's Chris Lekakos says that once he shows linoleum to residential clients, they like it. "We can do custom patterns, and strip in vinyl or copper trim. It's very versatile."

Color is another plus. Armstrong offers 78 shades among its three lines; Forbo has 30, plus custom borders.

Finally, linoleum has natural antibacterial properties. Hospitals appreciate that, as do parents of toddlers who are busy tasting whatever drops on the floor.

Linoleum's downside is that if you want it to shine, you have to wax it. Of course, if you don't – no problem. "I just sweep up and wash it with water," says Weinstein. And Knapp says her floor's subtle pattern hides dirt and that maintenance hasn't been a burden.

Manufacturers caution that buyers may notice an odor in the first few weeks, as the new floor cures. Weinstein says she found the odor noticeable but not unpleasant. "It smelled good to me, like wood or plants."

Sheet linoleum costs about $4 a square foot, and linoleum tile runs $6 to $7 a square foot for a floor with uniform dimensions, says Floor Gallery's Matthew Klein. The tile price is in the same ballpark as designer vinyls but more than most standard vinyl tiles, which sell for $3 to $4 a square foot. But, says Knapp, "vinyl wears out; this doesn't. If you compare linoleum to something that lasts as long, like a wood floor, it's in the same price range."

Ann Marie Moriarty is a freelance writer.