Many of the wonderful properties of earth floors, including their strength and water resistance, derive from the oil used to harden and bind them – I find it useful to think of earth floors as linoleum made with earth, instead of cork and sawdust. Linoleum was originally hardened with boiled linseed oil, but linseed isn’t the only oil that works for earth floors. The main types of oil that have been tried for earth floors are boiled linseed, raw linseed, hemp, and tung (note that boiled linseed oil actually contains drying agents, and you should source oil that is free of heavy metal
Continue readingA review of green homes in cold climates
