What Actually Is Latex / Natural Latex?
To avoid making this sound too much like a chemistry or biology lesson, I will keep it brief.
Natural rubber, formerly known simply as caoutchouc or gum, is found in many different rubber plants and is a rubbery substance contained in the milky plant sap (latex). The taste of this milky sap is pleasant and comparable to sweet cream. It is even edible :)
Rubber trees are cultivated on large plantations to harvest the milky sap. The process for extracting natural rubber has not fundamentally changed over the last 200 years. The bark of the rubber tree is scored to tap the white milky sap inside.
This latex sap contains up to 20% natural rubber. To extract the rubber, the liquid is first concentrated, and the rubber is precipitated by adding diluted acetic acid before being dried.
However, the yellowish natural rubber obtained during this process does not yet possess typical latex properties. Countless applications for rubber were only made possible through vulcanization. During vulcanization, the rubber is heated under pressure together with sulfur and other components.
This provides added stability and elasticity. The sulfur content allows the material properties to be precisely controlled: the more sulfur used, the harder the resulting latex becomes.
Fetish Latex Clothing Is Pure Nature
A wide variety of products can then be made from natural rubber. The lion's share of rubber production goes toward manufacturing car tires. The rest is divided among latex mattresses, bed toppers, industrial goods, sealing profiles, condoms, chewing gum, erasers, and clothing items like latex apparel.
The latex is produced directly into sheeting, which can then be cut to size and bonded using a special adhesive that mimics the vulcanization process. By the way, latex is a purely natural product and therefore vegan.
However, some people around the world miss out on the joy of feeling natural latex against their skin due to a latex allergy. This allergy is triggered by certain substances found in raw rubber. The actual allergen is a plant protein present in trace amounts within the rubber. It mostly affects people who come into frequent contact with natural rubber, such as doctors, surgical nurses, and caregivers. So keep that in mind when choosing a career!
Phew, that sounded a bit like school after all, didn't it? But I promise you, things get much easier from here on out. ;-)
