Gum Rubber Tubing image courtesy of Atlantic Rubber Co, Inc.

I collected rubber bands when I was a kid, with the intention, I recall, of making the biggest rubber band ball in the world. Unfortunately, this ambition was forgotten about, leaving in its wake a giant box of rubber bands that my parents, I’m sure, don’t know what to do with. Rubber bands is, as you know, one of many examples of naturally produced rubber.

And gum rubber tubing is essentially any naturally produced rubber tubing and it is used for the transportation of both liquids and gases. Gum rubber tubing is made from latex and can be manufactured in a variety of different sizes, differing in both inner diameter and outer diameter, in addition to the thickness of its wall.

Gum rubber tubing is valued for its resistance to wear and tear, tensile strength, resistance against extreme weather— maintaining good flexibility in cold temperatures— and its varying but relatively high levels of flexibility. In addition to these qualities, it is able to retain its shape when being twisted and bent. These are all characteristics that make gum rubber tubing attractive to a wide range of industries, including the food processing, pharmaceutical, chemical, pneumatic and hydraulic industries. Gum rubber tubing is especially valuable in medical institutions and laboratories, because it allows good, uninterrupted flow of the various fluids at a low pressure, in addition to generally having smooth and seamless surfaces and good a good gripping power when being attached to to fittings, glass tubes and hose barbs.

The process of making gum rubber tubing involves mixing latex with other chemicals until it thickens, after which it is given its shape via three possible processes: dipping, molding or extrusion. Dipping is a process that involves dipping a specifically shaped mold— or mandrel— into liquid latex and letting it dry into its desired form. Molding is similar, except that in some cases it involves molding and pressing together two halves of the tubing, which will be later smoothed out. Extrusion is the process of pushing the unformed rubber through a specifically shaped hole in a metal plate and forcing it all the way through, thus shaping it appropriately.