Congoleum introduces CLEO
It’s not LVT, it’s not rigid core, it’s not sheet vinyl … it’s CLEO. Congoleum brought its new CLEO (Congoleum Leading Environmental Options) Home collection to the floor at The International Surface Event 2018.

CLEO is five years in the making, said Jay Jacobs, national sales manager for the builder and multifamily market with Congoleum.

Jacobs explained that the traditional resilient floor features a core, a design layer and a wear layer. “We wanted to get rid of the print film. The question was, how?” he asked.

The answer, he explained, was to print on the core. “We digitally print the design on the limestone core,” he said, adding that the core is a flexible, 85 percent limestone product with a protective coating. “It’s a high performing product, with a faster manufacturing process, and it’s made in our Trenton, N.J. facility,” Jacobs said.

By eliminating the print layer and wear layer, opting instead to use a Scotchgard Protector that is exclusive to Congoleum, Jacobs said the visuals on CLEO are clearer as there is no opportunity for a wear layer to cloud the picture.

CLEO is a glue down product and can be cut with a utility knife, which Jacobs explained eliminates mess. The product can be grouted or ungrouted, and is available in 60” wood visual planks and 24” stone visual tiles.

And because the product contains no PVCs, plasticizers or phthalates, there’s an environmental story to CLEO as well. “It’s a green product,” Jacobs said.