RESILIENT TILE: VINYL COMPOSITION TILE

There are two types of viny composition tile.  The first, Vinyl Asbestos Tile (VAT) is comparable to asphalt tile, except that vinyl type resins are the binder instead of asphalt or other resins.  As with asphalt tile flooring, asbestos, pigments and inert fillers (sand) are used.  Vinyl resins are tough, chemically inert, thermoplastic, and resistant to also all solvents except the highly solvent ketones.  Since 1982 there have been no vinyl asbestos tiles manufactured.  The asbestos was removed and replaced with more inert fillers.  This floor tile is generally referred to as Vinyl Composition (VC) tile.  It is more porous than VAT and therefore more difficult to build initial gloss.  Because of the sand content, these floors are only available in tile form.  The recommend maintenance of vinyl composition floors is with water emulsion coatings and water emulsion cleaners.

CAUTIONS

• Avoid excessive use of water.  Excessive water, especially hot water, will damage any coatings applied, and can penetrate between the tiles to the adhesive and cause a loosening of the adhesive and eventual warping of the floor tile.
• Avoid stripping.  Highly alkaline and solvent containing strippers damage vinyl composition tile.  A good maintenance program extends routine maintenance and reduces stripping frequency. 
• Avoid extremes of hot or cold.  VAT and VC tile is a thermoplastic material which becomes brittle and can crack when subjected to cold or indent under loads when heated.  Using cool to warm water for routine maintenance will extend the life of any applied coatings and the rubber tile itself.