Description: Natural Rubber is the vulcanized product of the juice of the Hevea tree (latex).

Temperature Range: Standard Compound: 60 ^oF to +220^oF. (Dry Heat Only)

Hardness (Shore A): 40 to 90.

Features: Natural Rubber features low compression set, high tensile strength, high resilience, high abrasion and high tear resistance properties, with a good friction surface and excellent adhesion to metals. Until the invention of synthetic elastomers in the 1930's, Natural Rubber was the only polymer available for Oring manufacture.

Still used today in FDA applications for food and beverage seals, Natural Rubber features good resistance to organic acids, alcohols and automotive brake fluid, with moderate resistance to aldehydes and ketones.

Limitations: The poor resistance of Natural Rubber to attack by petroleum oils was the primary reason for the research and development of synthetic rubbers beginning in the 1930's.

Also readily deteriorated by exposure to sunlight and ozone, Natural Rubbers have been predominantly replaced by "use specific" synthetic rubbers in the seal industry of today.