Benefits of Choosing Rubber Flooring
The discovery of rubber dates back to the late 1400’s and early 1500’s. Some of the early pioneers of the rubber industry included, Sir Henry Wickham, who arranged for an expedition from Britain to the Amazon to gather Hevea seeds. His goal was to create a stable, controlled supply of rubber using the 70,000 seeds he brought back to England to Henry Ridley, the Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens where he encouraged the planting of Hevea (rubber) trees, and later John Dunlop, the inventor of the pneumatic tire in 1888. Uses for the new air-filled rubber included, athletic equipment, car tires, and athletic shoes. Charles Goodyear, a hardware dealer and inventor, with no formal education accidentally discovered vulcanization, the chemical process in which polymer molecules are linked to other polymer molecules, resulting in a much more durable material that is also more resistant to chemical attack.
Fast forward to present day, sustainable design of athletic facilities is top of mind. Designers are choosing materials to reduce product-cycle environmental impacts, improve performance, and optimize occupant health and comfort. Virgin rubber is an environmentally-friendly sustainable material that is made from the sap-like extract harvested from the Hevea trees commonly known as rubber trees. The harvesting process does not create any damage to the tree and is 100% sustainable. Along with providing raw rubber, the Hevea trees remove carbon dioxide from the air, providing a cleaner environment.
MONDO uses virgin rubber and the vulcanization process to create tracks, multi-purpose gym floors, skate resistant flooring, weight room flooring and commercial flooring. Rubber sports flooring has proven to be a leader in force reduction, comfort, safety, and creates less stress on the body. Other benefits of using rubber sports flooring are no off gassing, no V.O.C’s, no coatings, no disinfectants and no harmful components. The low maintenance costs are another reason to choose rubber far out performing other flooring options such as, real wood, sheet vinyl, and all types of tile. The bottom line here is: rubber achieves the best life cycle cost of any floor covering, it never needs wax, it can be routinely maintained with an auto-scrubber, it inherently resists the growth of fungus and is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.
