Updated:
Published:
Floorworld is a leading flooring store that takes pride in offering a wide range of sustainable and environmentally friendly flooring products. With a commitment to quality and eco-consciousness, Floorworld aims to provide customers with flooring options that enhance their spaces' beauty and functionality and contribute to a greener planet.
Floorworld prioritises flooring materials sourced responsibly and has a minimal negative environmental impact. They offer various flooring options made from renewable, recycled, or reclaimed materials, reducing the need for new resource extraction.
When buying a floor, we’re really buying it for the room; the impact of the production cycle can seem insignificant when you consider that the flooring may be in place for 25 years.
So, one of the most meaningful ways you can impact your environment is choosing the right floor for you, one that is going to be easy to maintain and not need to be replaced.
How can choosing the right floor be a more sustainable choice? If you’re living a high-traffic lifestyle, picking a floor that is easy to maintain, with water or low-impact chemicals, will minimise its impact.
Some flooring materials, such as certain types of hardwood and bamboo, are known for their energy efficiency. They can help regulate indoor temperatures, reducing the need for excessive heating or cooling and lowering energy consumption.
Hybrid flooring is an excellent choice for easy maintenance and is durable for the family home. There are water-proof options that mean accidental spills and mess will sit on top instead of soaking in and needing professional cleaning, and should the worst happen, it’s possible to replace one plank instead of the whole floor.
In soft flooring, triexta is naturally stain resistant and will resist 99% of household spills for the carpet's life. It’s all about the built-in stain resistance. Triexta carpet is manufactured to be negatively changed, meaning spills are repelled, and often water is all needed to clean it up.
Sustainable flooring options are often chosen for their durability and longevity. These materials can withstand wear and tear over time, reducing the need for frequent replacements and conserving resources.
But it’s not just spills and longevity of the floor. Something that we’re becoming more and more mindful of these days is indoor air quality. Air quality can be impacted by many things, including complex chemicals required to clean some floor types, resurfacing older fashioned timber floors, and even the chemicals that went into the production of the floor itself. Regardless of their core materials, many floors are finished with coatings and chemicals that give off gasses while in the home. These gases are commonly known as VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) and are regulated by national standards.
Whilst almost everywhere and already regulated (even a timber floor can release VOCs due to its production methods), it’s now possible to choose floors that will release far fewer VOCs over the lifespan of the floor, and you’ll find options with fewer VOCs in every covering type.
If air quality is very important to you, a wool carpet is a great choice. Not many people know that wool naturally absorbs allergens and pollutants and can improve the air quality in your home.
Wool is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs and releases moisture in the air. This insulating effect can help to lower energy bills by regulating indoor temperature in summer and winter. Wool is an excellent choice in the bedrooms if you or your family have high allergies or asthma.
Part of the natural suitability of wool comes down to the structure of the woollen fibre itself. Wool is constructed of overlapping scales, arranged almost like roof tiles or fish scales. These scales inhibit dirt from sticking to the wool fibres and help it flick away. This means that wool has significantly better soil release than any other fibre, meaning it cleans better, and stain protection is unnecessary. This is also great news because it’s one less chemical in the home.
And it doesn’t have to be one way or another. Sustainable natural fibre rugs can dress up a hard floor while still providing the long-term benefits of a hard floor covering. You can update your look to an existing floor with a natural covering.
In short, if you want a sustainable choice in your home, pick a floor that will not need replacing (and that may mean a timeless style, too), is easy to clean without harsh chemicals (or professional resurfacing), and releases lower VOCs over its lifespan.
Floorworld's knowledgeable staff can guide customers through the selection process, helping them choose the right sustainable flooring option based on their preferences, needs, and the environmental impact they wish to make.
