Rubber is a valuable product that has been used for the production of rubber for centuries. Its source is hevea, one of the most common plants in South America and Southeast Asia.
Origin of rubber
One of the most useful plants for the history of mankind was and remains hevea - a tree from the sap of which rubber is made. It grows in the tropical climates of South America and Southeast Asia. Initially, Hevea came from Brazil: the Indians living in the Amazon jungle have long used the juice of this plant for medical (disinfecting wounds and stopping blood), industrial (waterproof shoes and raincoats) and even playing purposes. In particular, it was the Indians who created the first rubber ball for games similar to modern football.
Hevea was taken out of South America by the British, and at the beginning of the 20th century they began to be planted in their Asian colonies. It was then that plantations appeared in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. At the moment, Thailand is the largest supplier of natural rubber.
Extraction of rubber
The process for making rubber is extremely simple. Hevea trees begin to produce resin at the age of 7-8 years: it is then that the first cuts are made in them, from which white thick milky sap oozes. Each tree produces about 200 grams of sap during the day, which is collected in small cups tied to the tree. In the evening, the collected juice is poured into large containers and sent to processing factories. Milky sap is collected daily until the tree is about 30 years old, when it dries up. The plantation is completely cut down and young shoots are planted in its place.
In fact, the juice collected and cleaned from branches and insects can already be considered a finished product, since it quickly thickens in air and turns into a dense rubber mass, however, to speed up the process, special thickeners are added to it and placed in flat small square or rectangular trays. Then the resulting pasty sticky mass is rolled with a press, squeezing out the remaining moisture from it, and dried. Thus, it is possible to obtain natural rubber almost by hand, giving it the necessary shape and evaporating all the moisture.
The last action of the primary treatment is to smoke the resulting rubber sheets in order to get rid of ants and other insects. It is smoking that gives the sheets a brown-yellow color, which is considered to be classic for natural rubber.
Latex products for sleeping (pillows, mattresses), contraceptives, medical gloves and protective equipment and much more are currently produced from natural rubber.
