Armstrong vinyl flooring is only one of many products that Armstrong World Industries has made during its nearly 150 year history. In 1860, Thomas H. Armstrong, the son of Scots-Irish immigrants from Londonderry, Ireland, joined with John D. Glass to open a one-room shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, carving bottle stoppers from cork by hand. Armstrong was a shrewd businessman. He branded every cork that left his shop, and soon included a written guarantee in every bag of corks. The company grew to be the world's largest supplier of corks by 1890.

Armstrong saw the future of flooring in linoleum, and in 1909 the company began selling linoleum flooring with tiles. The combination of cork and linoleum eventually led to vinyl. Armstrong vinyl flooring has been made with a special formulation called ToughGuard™ since the year 2000, which gives it a dramatic increase in durability. Armstrong vinyl flooring is sold worldwide through distributors, dealers, and remodeling contractors. Today, Armstrong vinyl flooring is leading brand in the United States.

Armstrong vinyl flooring is made by either rotogravure or inlaid vinyl manufacturing processes. Rotogravure is essentially a printing process where a pattern is printed onto white vinyl sheet. The inlaid vinyl process is much more complicated. A variety of vinyl granules of different colors are combined to produce a pattern. These granules are deeply etched into the sheet vinyl, producing a more durable pattern.

The vinyl in Armstrong vinyl flooring, and every other brand, is composed of two chemicals. Chlorine is obtained from common salt. Ethylene comes from natural gas. Using other chemical additives, vinyl can be made flexible, rigid, or semi-liquid; thick or thin; clear or colorful. Some call vinyl the world's most versatile plastic material.

All Armstrong vinyl flooring features Variable Texture™ technology to create very natural looking patterns and images in the vinyl. The CleanSweep™ finish is scratch and abrasion resistant, making it easy to clean. The ToughGuard™ guarantee protects for twenty years against rips, tears, or gouges under normal household use.

1. The Natural Fusion Luxury Resilient style is billed as the ultimate in Armstrong sheet vinyl flooring; it is a full 105 mils thick.
2. StrataMax is another sheet flooring product designed for easy installation and toughness. It can be installed without adhesive over OSB, existing vinyl flooring, concrete, or a one-quarter inch plywood underlayment. If it is damaged, once can cut out the damaged area and lay in a new patch using double-sided acrylic tape.
3. CushionStep is a new Armstrong vinyl flooring that adds an extra tactile feeling to vinyl floors. The patented 120 mils high CushionCore layer provides unprecedented resiliency and comfort. This Armstrong vinyl flooring comes with an extra-tough polyurethane finish that protects all of the many intricate patterns in which CushionStep comes.

Armstrong vinyl flooring has been one of the world's favorite flooring choices for nearly a hundred years. It may your next flooring, too.