In this guest blog, we talk to Wendy Mitrovich, Brand Manager at Polyflor SA about why vinyl is such a hygienic choice, especially in hygiene sensitive areas such as hospitals, food preparation areas and the education sector.
So Wendy, give me a little bit of background on Polyflor SA?
Polyflor SA was founded in 1992 and has been supplying the South African market with vinyl flooring for the last 25 years. Polyflor SA represents the Polyflor UK range of Vinyl Flooring products in SA, as well as many other suppliers and product ranges to complement our Polyflor range and add greater value to our clients.
We are immensely proud of the fact that the range of products supplied by Polyflor SA complies with the highest international environmental standards. Polyflor SA is also a member of SAVA (Southern African Vinyl Association) and is continuously striving to create environmental awareness in the industry.
So for those of us not in the flooring industry, what is vinyl flooring, and what makes it so special?
Vinyl flooring is a type of resilient flooring made up of Poly Vinyl Chloride, and is the name commonly used for PVC flooring in the industry. You get several different types of vinyl flooring, and it’s important to choose the right type of flooring for the environment. To beat the jargon around all the different types of vinyl available, download Polyflor’s Definitive Guide to Vinyl Flooring. I’ll just cover the main ones here.
Homogeneous vinyl:
This is a heavy duty vinyl sheet consisting of a single layer of material. It is incredibly durable, and is a good choice for heavy traffic and hygiene sensitive areas, i.e. hospital wards, corridors, theatres etc. As the sheets are welded together when the vinyl is laid, it is this impervious layer that makes it so hygienic. There are no cracks or crevices (like you have with tiles or laminates) in which germs and bacteria can hide.
Heterogeneous vinyl:
This is a multi-layer vinyl sheet made up of a printed top-layer laminated to a base-layer and finished with a protective wear-layer. The printed top-layer allows for a variety of design possibilities, and it is slightly softer underfoot than a homogeneous product. Heterogeneous vinyl is suitable for commercial, retail, hospitality, healthcare and residential installations requiring hygienic and durable flooring.
Luxury Vinyl Tiles:
These are essentially a laminated product made up of several layers with a printed decorative top layer available in either tile or plank sizes, but not to be confused with wood laminate planks. Whilst we wouldn’t use these in a medical theatre environment, they have become popular in hospital wards which are being designed to look more homely and welcoming, and conducive to healing. Because the planks are not welded together, you can get small gaps which means that bacteria can linger, hence not being suitable for a sterile environment.
What makes vinyl flooring more hygienic than tiles or wood, for example?
The fact that vinyl – as described above – is an impervious layer that is welded together means that its inherently hygienic because there is nowhere for bacteria to hide. The smooth surface also makes it incredibly easy to clean.
Bacteria thrives on warmth, moisture, dust and grit, and unless done very carefully, wet-cleaning provides the ideal environment for bacteria to spread. One of the added advantages of vinyl flooring is that it can be cleaned very effectively with a microfiber mop covered with a masslinn cloth. Water should only really be necessary for stubborn stains, which can be removed with a slightly wet microfiber mop (with or without detergent depending on the stain). This also means that in addition to be hygienic, vinyl floors are also a fantastically water-wise option.
If you were asked to think about flooring from a hygiene perspective, what would your first thought be and why?
My first thought? It’s that I can’t believe that hospitals still have carpets in their wards or that play schools still have carpets in the classrooms!
Vinyl really is the most hygienic solution, and I’m not just saying that because I’m the Brand Manager. As I mentioned above, homogeneous vinyl is used in medical theatres precisely because it’s so hygienic, and these hygiene benefits are also relevant to other industries where hygiene is a concern. One of our large retail clients use vinyl as wall protection to replace traditional splashbacks in their food preparation areas. If you consider that traditionally splashbacks are tiled, a solid piece of vinyl wall protection provides a seamless surface rather than all the crevices between the tiles, meaning that it is much more hygienic and far easier to clean effectively.
Are you ever asked about hygiene as a consideration when recommending/laying flooring?
The answer to this has to be a resounding “YES, all the time!” The healthcare sector comprises a large portion of our business (and hygiene is obviously very high on the list of priorities for them) because vinyl flooring is such a perfect fit for the healthcare environment.
But we also do a lot of work in the education sector. When you consider the needs of schools and universities, vinyl ticks all the boxes here too; durable, soft and warm underfoot, incredible acoustic properties, as well as waterproof, easy-to-clean, quiet and non-slippery. The “easy to clean” part is especially important in the junior phases, as you can imagine. We did a survey recently and 89% of the teachers we surveyed rated “easy to clean” as an essential factor in choosing a classroom floor.
For more about Polyflor’s range of flooring options, visit their website.
Leave a Reply