76 
House & Garden 
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LINOLEUM 
The Attractive Appearance , Durability and Comfort of Linoleum 
Adapt It to Many Types of Rooms 
ETHEL R. PEYSER 
O NE of the reasons why li¬ 
noleum is used as a floor cov¬ 
ering on most of the great 
battleships of the world is that it 
is more comfortable to walk on 
than many other types of flooring. 
Add to this its durability and 
the fact that once laid it is not 
affected by salt air or changes of 
temperature, and one can readily 
| understand its importance as a 
floor covering. And if it can stand 
the hard usage of a battleship or 
an ocean liner, it is logical to feel 
t that it would be of equally long 
■ and suitable service in the average 
home. 
Linoleum is a mixture of cork, 
linseed oil and burlap and comes 
with designs either printed or in¬ 
laid. Inlaid means that the pat¬ 
tern goes through from back to 
front. This is the most expensive 
type but as the design lasts as long 
as the linoleum itself, it means 
economy in the end. The printed 
variety has the pattern on the sur¬ 
face only, but deep enough to out- 
; last many another type of floor, 
provided it is treated with ordinary 
care. 
In buying linoleum the first 
thing to remember is that to be 
genuine linoleum it must have a 
burlap back. Felt paper and other 
things parade as burlap but it is 
easy enough to distinguish the dif¬ 
ference by trying to tear it. Burlap 
holds; felt paper backing, with a 
little force, can be torn. 
After one has decided to use 
linoleum and chosen the design 
most suited to the type of room it is 
to go into, the question of laying it 
arises. It is of utmost importance 
that linoleum should be laid bv 
an expert for there is a right and 
wrong way of doing this and the 
wrong way means death to comfort. 
The best thing about linoleum is 
that it can be laid over any kind 
of floor, provided this floor is 
smooth, dry and level. If your 
flooring is of cement or concrete or 
composition of any kind, every 
crack must Ire filled with plaster 
of paris and allowed to dry at 
least two months before the lino¬ 
leum is applied. If you lay the 
linoleum over wood, the floor must 
be seasoned, and all tacks, nails, 
etc., hammered far below the sur¬ 
face. 
Felt should always be laid un¬ 
der linoleum as it gives the floor 
(Continued on Page 134) 
Linoleum in 
a black and 
■white block 
pattern brings 
distinction to 
what might 
have been an 
uninteresting 
hall 
Lin oleum 
makes the 
ideal floor 
covering in a 
kitchen as it 
is dura b l e, 
com fortable 
and easily 
kept clean 
