It’s a common misconception among specifiers that modern rubber flooring is a \u201cnatural\u201d product. In most cases it is simply not!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, virtually all the rubber flooring on the market today is made from synthetic chemical compounds. Styrene-butadiene rubber (abbreviated to SBR) is more commonly known as \u201cindustrial rubber\u201d. Capable of being modified with other compounds it can be made with extra flame resistance, oil and chemical resistance to additional electrical dissipative and conductive qualities. It can be also made in any colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite it being a bi-product from petrochemicals -in environmental terms, it compares quite favourably with its main competitors-linoleum and PVC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Increasingly, with sustainability now high on the design agenda, Dalsouple has intensified production of Dalsouple DalNaturel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The timing is more than right to \u201cthink different\u201d by taking Dalsouple\u2019s quantum leap in further improving the environmental profile of its products. Simply going \u2018back to Nature\u2019 has been the resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specialising in rubber manufacture since the 1940\u2019s in France. When things were scarce all the production used natural rubber sourced from tropically located plantations. In the 1960\u2019s due to spectacular demand there was a need to look at synthetic alternatives. It was relatively easier to manufacture due to equipment modernization and availability of synthetics as the oil industry was burgeoning. SBR became cheaper and easier to process and became faster to make to meet the increased demand. SBR offered better consistency and uniformity of colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we all know, cost effectiveness and product quality are critical commercial ingredients. However in new design environments they are simply not enough. Our priorities as consumers, specifiers and manufacturers are changing. Hence \u2018DalNaturel\u2019, the latest generation of natural floor covering from Dalsouple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With over 90% of natural ingredients- with all the rubber content being natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natural rubber is a wholly renewable raw material, and mature rubber trees are exceptionally efficient at carbon sequestration. The trees leaves literally scavenge CO2 from the atmosphere to produce its sap-latex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This absorption removes harmful CO2 from the atmosphere. So for every 1m2 specified in DalNaturel approximately 7kg of CO2 has been removed from the atmosphere and converted to a natural product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The natural qualities make it easy to recycle, not just once but several times, with many potential applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compared to PVC it has low toxicity too. All these factors combined with a long service life, contribute to an environmental life cycle performance that is worlds away from exiting resilient floor coverings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like all Dalsouple rubber, DalNaturel is suitable for a huge range of contract installations and noticeably in the Australasian market an unprecedented demand for domestic customers. It is tough, anti-slip and burn resistant, but feels soft and warm underfoot. It has excellent noise absorption properties yet is dust free (good news for allergy sufferers)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DalNaturel (being vulcanized) is also hygienic and easy to maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please note that DalNaturel is an organic product, it may contain small variations in appearance and uniformity compared to its synthetic counterpart. A bit like an organic apple versus a chemically treated one. This is after all a natural result of the manufacturing process and part of the product\u2019s unique style and appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact and fiction- Myth busting at work\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n All manufacturers strive for market dominance and look at ways of best promoting their product. That\u2019s a fact. They now place great emphasis on their environmental performance. There\u2019s such an enormity of data \u2013 simple data overload can blur the perception of a clearer reality. It\u2019s harder than ever to make valid comparisons between different materials. Each manufacturer is selective in the information disclosed, and indeed the measurements\/units, measuring equipment being used, and methodology of testing. Of course mainly they are measuring existing products that were designed years ago in a different environmental climate. While improvements can be achieved, they will inevitably be gradual and marginal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With 2015 DalNaturel, Dalsouple has re-engineered rubber flooring to maximize its environmental credentials. A dynamic shift in diverting manufacture from SBR to replacing with natural rubber as the core ingredient has transformed the product completely without loss of performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harmful CO2 emission generation has fundamentally been reduced too. As stated, all manufacturing creates CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 30 year life span of a rubber tree (Havea brasiliensis) are exceptentional at sequestration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Combining this concept with an energy efficient factory production process at Dalsouple, Saumur in France, the case for selecting DalNaturel is arguably phenomenally strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We do concede that it may cost more to produce, but for planetary health and our collective future everyone will benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Naturally, (pardon the pun!)- Dalsouple firmly believes that DalNaturel can lay claim to being perhaps the most environmentally friendly and sustainable resilient floor covering in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is recognized around the world by leading environmental architects and designers that have afforded time to do their own research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DalNaturel is available in virtually all the amazing colours and textures with pastel colours forecasted as favorites by Pantone\u00ae in 2015. Only the palest (whiter colours) are excluded due to the naturally subdued cream colour derived from its raw latex sourcing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact your Australasian supplier- iRubber Pty Ltd +613 97739933 or 0423621692<\/p>\n\n\n\n info@irubber.com.au<\/a> or info@dalsouple.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"