Painting 1950s lino instead of replacing it with vinyl flooring.

Ive just googled this and it does require a lot of preparation and you need to use the correct products for painting……..might be worth investing in a new floor covering

Can you simply put a new covering over the existing old one?
This would save a lot of work.

Because it's in good condition, I'd lay vinyl flooring straight on top.

Painting over lino sounds like a labour intensive job with uncertain results. I’d give the lino a scrub and leave it to air for a few days. Then have a professional fit your preferred new floor covering. There are some lovely vinyls available to choose from and the fitting service would be worth it for a nice finish.

Maybe a daft idea, but could the existing lino be left as it is?

You say it’s in good condition, and fitted well.

Could the ‘retro’ look be retained, and enhanced with rugs and soft furnishings?

I'd certainly conserve the antique lino , if it is good quality linen lino . Why paint it or cover it.

It probably contains asbestos so you are best covering it or painting it. Provided it's intact don't remove it.

Real Lino doesn't contain asbestos surely!

It's just solidified linseed oil with pine resin, wood flour, and cork dust pressed onto a jute backing.

Maybe you are thinking of early forms of vinyl? That often had asbestos in the paper or felt backing.

Or maybe you are thinking of asbestos glue to stick it down?

Any lino produced before about 1980 may contain asbestos in the backing. It's safe enough so long as it's not broken up so could be just covered. I don't think I would play around with it without getting it tested just incase.

Arrgh! Thanks for the tip. Hadn't realised asbestos might be in the mix.

Calendargirl

Maybe a daft idea, but could the existing lino be left as it is?

You say it’s in good condition, and fitted well.

Could the ‘retro’ look be retained, and enhanced with rugs and soft furnishings?

In a bathroom?

More likely in the old asbestos-rich mastic I'd think.

Worth checking (or just covering?) though.

This made me laugh. Until l read this thread title l had completely forgotten something from my childhood. My older sister decided that the colours in our bedroom lino didn't fit with the colours in the curtains or something. It was just one of the shapes in the lino, not all of them. So we painted all of those shapes a colour she chose and left the rest as they were. I have no idea what sort of paint we used or how long it lasted.

Jaxjacky

I misread the opening post, and thought it said ‘bedroom’!

Should have gone to Specsavers!

There are plenty of polyurethane floor paints, just app.y them with a roller, the floor would need to be clean and dry to get a good finish
If it was mine l would lay vinyl flooring on top taking it up could open a can of worms to dont expect.

Easily done Calendargirl!

I would either deep clean and seal the lino or replace.

I'd be a bit careful about painting it in case it affected the surface and made it sticky, but a good paint shop should be able to recommend what to use. (Obviously you'd need to try it out on an inconspicuous part of the floor first).
There are quite a few paints meant specifically for floors, so I'm guessing that they are reasonably durable.

In the 60s I actually worked in the company that produced linoleum for UK and overseas (Nairns). Given the materials used in production I would not attempt painting. If it is linoleum it is well known for its antibiotic and breathing qualities hence it was used in hospitals. Think a similar but not so robust material is still produced in the same place. Linoleum was glued down though in some households nailed it down but tge nails coukd be dabgerous due to shrinkage/expansion of the linoleum. Loved the coal tar smell used in the production, drifted over whole town. There is a poem about linoleum "you ken by the smell, the next (train) stops Kirkcaldy! Happy days.

Oldfrill is right, it's possibly laced with asbestos and potentially unsafe if disturbed by direct use. Maybe send a ti y bit off for testing, last time I did that it cost about £70 and well worth it.

Real linoleum is the traditional material made from linseed oil, wood or cork flour and natural resins, pressed onto a strong woven jute backing. It’s solid, durable, slightly textured, and the jute backing looks like proper cloth so you can tell if it's the good quality stuff by looking at the underside where you can see the woven jute

Alongside it, manufacturers also produced cheaper lookalikes that weren’t true linoleum at all. These were made of mixed binders and fillers laid onto a felt or tar-paper backing — a stiff, papery material sometimes reinforced with bitumen. These imitations looked similar on the surface but were thinner, less robust, and far more prone to cracking.

The key difference is simple:
real linoleum = jute cloth backing;
cheaper imitations = tar paper / felt backing.

Real linoleum didn’t use asbestos — any asbestos concerns with old floors tend to come from the tar-paper/felt products or their adhesives, not from genuine jute-backed lino.

4allweknow

In the 60s I actually worked in the company that produced linoleum for UK and overseas (Nairns). Given the materials used in production I would not attempt painting. If it is linoleum it is well known for its antibiotic and breathing qualities hence it was used in hospitals. Think a similar but not so robust material is still produced in the same place. Linoleum was glued down though in some households nailed it down but tge nails coukd be dabgerous due to shrinkage/expansion of the linoleum. Loved the coal tar smell used in the production, drifted over whole town. There is a poem about linoleum "you ken by the smell, the next (train) stops Kirkcaldy! Happy days.

I think Nairns still make proper jute-backed linoleum MARMOLEUM.-----very expensive and desirable

I have a ‘hardcore’ carpet in my bathroom with washable mats. Lasted 20 + years so far… not expensive.

You don't need to take it...you can just put new flooring on top of it, provides extra insulation he said. Maybe that's why it was still down.My flooring guy did that in my kitchen