Hemp Flooring vs. Vinyl (LVP): What Your Floors Are Really Made Of

Luxury vinyl plank has become one of the best-selling flooring categories in the United States. It's waterproof, inexpensive, and easy to install. It's also made from polyvinyl chloride — a plastic the EPA identified as containing carcinogenic compounds back in 1978. HempWood is made from compressed industrial hemp fiber and a soy-based adhesive. This article compares the two materials on the factors that matter most: what's in them, how they perform, and what happens when they wear out.

What They're Actually Made Of

Vinyl / LVP is a multi-layer product built around a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) core. PVC requires plasticizers to achieve the flexibility needed for flooring — most commonly phthalates, a class of chemicals classified as endocrine disruptors. In 1978, the EPA formally identified vinyl chloride (the monomer used to produce PVC) as a human carcinogen. While the finished flooring product is distinct from raw vinyl chloride, the manufacturing process and the chemical additives required to stabilize and soften PVC remain a documented health and environmental concern.

Additional layers in LVP products typically include a printed photographic layer (the wood-look image), a wear layer made from urethane or aluminum oxide, and an attached underlayment — often foam-based. Each layer introduces additional chemical compounds into the product.

HempWood is manufactured by compressing industrial hemp fibers with a soy-based adhesive under high heat and pressure. The result is a solid, dense plank. There is no PVC, no phthalates, no synthetic foam, and no photographic print layer. What you see is the actual surface of the material.

Indoor Air Quality and VOC Emissions

Vinyl / LVP: Multiple studies have documented VOC off-gassing from vinyl flooring products, including 4-phenylcyclohexene (4-PCH) — the compound responsible for the distinctive "new floor" odor — as well as formaldehyde and other semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Emissions are typically highest in the first weeks after installation but can persist for months. Phthalates used as plasticizers do not off-gas in the traditional sense but can migrate out of the material over time, particularly in warm environments, and accumulate in household dust.

HempWood: Zero VOC. The soy-based adhesive used in manufacturing is formaldehyde-free, and the finished product carries no-added-formaldehyde status. HempWood is CARB 2 compliant — meeting California Air Resources Board standards for composite wood emissions, which set the benchmark for indoor air quality requirements in the flooring industry.

Formaldehyde

Vinyl / LVP: Formaldehyde is not a primary ingredient in vinyl flooring, but it can be present as a byproduct of certain adhesives, backing materials, and coatings used in LVP construction. Testing of retail LVP products has found formaldehyde emissions in some products, though levels vary widely by manufacturer and product line.

HempWood: No-added-formaldehyde. The soy-based adhesive system used in HempWood's manufacturing process does not introduce formaldehyde into the product. CARB 2 compliance provides third-party verification of this claim.

Durability

Vinyl / LVP: The wear layer on LVP — typically 6 to 20 mil thick — determines how well the surface resists scratching and scuffing. Once the wear layer is compromised, the printed image layer beneath it is exposed and the plank must be replaced. LVP cannot be sanded or refinished. Typical lifespan under normal residential use is 10–25 years, after which the entire floor must be removed and discarded.

HempWood: Janka hardness rating of 2,200 lbf. For reference, red oak — the standard benchmark for residential hardwood — rates at 1,290 lbf. Hickory, one of the hardest domestic hardwoods, rates at 1,820 lbf. HempWood is harder than both. Because it is a solid material throughout, it can be sanded and refinished multiple times over its lifespan, extending usable life well beyond what any vinyl product can offer.

Refinishability

Vinyl / LVP: Cannot be refinished. Scratches, gouges, and surface wear are permanent. Individual planks can sometimes be replaced if the product is still available, but color and texture matching degrades over time as products are discontinued. A worn LVP floor is a floor that needs to be replaced.

HempWood: Can be sanded and refinished like traditional hardwood. Surface damage, scratches, and finish wear can be addressed without replacing the floor. This extends the functional lifespan of the material significantly and reduces long-term cost of ownership.

End of Life: Landfill vs. Refinish

Vinyl / LVP: PVC is one of the most difficult plastics to recycle. There is no established residential recycling stream for vinyl flooring in the United States. When an LVP floor reaches the end of its useful life, it goes to a landfill. PVC in landfills can leach plasticizers and other chemical additives into soil and groundwater over time. Some vinyl flooring contains heavy metal stabilizers — historically lead and cadmium, though these have been largely phased out in the U.S. — which compound the environmental concern.

HempWood: A HempWood floor that has reached the end of its finish life can be sanded and refinished rather than replaced. When the floor does eventually reach true end of life, it is a natural fiber composite without PVC, phthalates, or synthetic foam — a meaningfully different environmental profile than vinyl at disposal.

Additionally, hemp as a crop is carbon-negative at the agricultural level. Hemp sequesters CO₂ during growth at a rate that exceeds most tree species on a per-acre basis, and the carbon captured during growth is retained in the finished product. HempWood's manufacturing process results in a carbon-negative product overall.

Side-by-Side Comparison

The Bottom Line

LVP's market dominance is a function of price, availability, and aggressive retail placement — not performance on health or environmental metrics. The material has real advantages: it's waterproof, dimensionally stable, and inexpensive to install. Those are legitimate considerations.

But the trade-offs are also real. PVC is a petroleum-derived plastic with a documented history of chemical concerns dating back nearly five decades. It cannot be refinished. It cannot be recycled. And it will outlast its useful life in a landfill by centuries.

HempWood is harder, refinishable, zero VOC, formaldehyde-free, and carbon-negative. It costs more upfront. Over the lifespan of a floor — accounting for refinishing versus replacement — the cost differential narrows considerably.

The comparison is straightforward. What you choose to do with it is up to you.