How Rubber Revolutionized the World

							?While it might not score the same recognition as things like mortar and steel, rubber
has proven to be an indispensable material in our modern world. All of the largest
industries, from airline and automobile to construction, employ rubber in a variety of
ways. Let's take a look at how rubber came to play such an integral role in our society
and industry.

Rubber can be divided into two broad categories: natural rubber and manmade rubber.
In general, rubber is an amorphous material composed of latex or derived from natural
means such as the sap of a rubber tree. Once the basic product is created, it is
"vulcanized" and finished, ready to be implemented into an endless array of products,
ranging from simple office supplies like rubber bands to tires, gaskets, and insulation.
But where did it come from?

It's difficult to stamp a date on the earliest uses of rubber, as it was being used by
indigenous Americans for possibly centuries before the arrival of Europeans on the
shores. In fact, it could stretch back significantly further, with some evidence
suggesting that ancient Mesoamericans were making rubber over 3,000 years ago.

The ancient Mayan game of Tlachtlic was played using what are now recognized as
being rubber balls. Although the game incorporated into religious rituals at the time, it
is now considered a very early forerunner of both football and basketball. In 1525,
explorers in Mexico recorded encounters with tribes who played games using
bouncing, elastic balls, and shortly afterwards, rubber found its first widespread
popular usage, as erasers.

In the 18th century, Charles de la Condamine pursued the first scientific study of
rubber and its properties. Over the next 100 years, this gave way to a wide variety of
new uses for rubber. The use of rubber as waterproofing spread in popularity,
especially in snow-covered New England, where waterproof shoe coverings and snow
boots became all the rage.

Although water-resistant rubber goods were popular, there was one big drawback.
Rubber products at the time were adversely affected by weather. As a result, rubber
products made specifically for the snow, such as boots, were soon cracked and brittle.
And when it came to hot temperatures, rubber products would become sticky and melt.
Fortunately, a solution was on the horizon.

In 1840, the process of vulcanization was successfully pioneered by Charles Goodyear.
Ironically, after years of trying to develop a more weather-resistant variety of rubber,
Goodyear created the vulcanization process quite by accident when he dropped a
combination of rubber, lead, and sulfur onto a hot stove.

In addition to increasing rubber's durability in the face of harsh weather, vulcanization
also imbues rubber with other properties, such as the ability to revert to its original
form after being stretched, and a general resistance to water and chemical interactions.
Vulcanized rubber is also nonconductive to electricity. All of these new properties
resulted in a rubber boom that has continued into the modern age.

In modern times, the majority of rubber produced is a synthetic variety made with
crude oil. Due to rubber shortages in World War II, there was an increased focus on
the production of this synthetic rubber as a means to aid the war effort. This has
continued to today, and we now have over 20 grades of synthetic rubber.

In addition to these 20 grades of rubber, natural rubber is still in use too. Rubber
plantations now thrive in southeast Asia and Africa, where the high, damp
temperatures are ideal for rubber production.

With over 20 grades of synthetic rubber, as well as a plentiful supply of natural rubber,
there are more uses for rubber now than ever before. Hardly any other material can
boast the versatility of rubber. What other product can be found in everything from
trains and computers to sports accessories and fashion items?Our custom molded
rubber parts include any shape of rubber parts such as o-rings, gaskets, washers, oil
seals, square rings, quad rings, D- rings, X-rings, u-cups, grommets, diaphragms,
packings, rubber boots, rubber balls, rubber bonded to metal and productions per your
prints / designs.