Natural latex rubber is obtained from the latex rubber tree: Hevea Brasiliensis. This rubber tree stands approximately 20 m tall, it has a smooth greyish trunk, with leaves up to 20 cm long. It produces greenish-yellow flowers with no petals, and its seeds are brown, oblong and approximately 2.5 cm in length. The rubber tree evolved in moist to well drained tropical rain forest, but can be found in drier areas. Its seeds germinated best in semi-shade and grow quickly. Seed dispersal is by explosion, with seeds ejected up to 15 m. The latex rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis is a member of the Euphorbiaceae family, all of which produce latex rubber. However, Hevea brasiliensis produces the most elastic latex rubber. The latex sap is extracted, or tapped, by hand. To obtain the latex from vessels within the inner bark, angled incisions are made along the trunk. These lead to a collection cup at the bottom. Other plants containing latex include figs (Ficus elastica), euphorbias, and the common dandelion. Although these have not been major sources of rubber, Germany attempted to use such sources during World War II when it was cut off from rubber supplies. These attempts were later supplanted by the development of synthetic rubber.
In places like Kerala, where coconuts are in abundance, the shell of half a coconut is used as the collection container for the latex. The shells are attached to the tree via a short sharp stick and the latex drips down into it overnight. This usually produces latex up to a level of half to three quarters of the shell. The latex from multiple trees are then poured into flat pans and this is mixed with formic acid, which serves as a coagulant. After a few hours, the very wet sheets of rubber are wrung out by putting them through a press before they are sent onto factories where vulcanization and further processing is done.
The para rubber tree initially grew in South America, where it was the main source of what limited amount of latex rubber was consumed during much of the 19th century. About 100 years ago, the Congo Free State in Africa was a significant source of natural rubber latex, mostly gathered by forced labor. The Congo Free State was forged and ruled as a personal colony by the Belgian King Leopold II where millions of Africans died as a result of lust for rubber and rubber profits. After repeated efforts (see Henry Wickham) rubber was successfully cultivated in Southeast Asia, where it is now widely grown.
In its native Central America and South America, rubber has been collected for a long time. The Mesoamerican civilizations used rubber mostly from Castilla elastica. The Ancient Mesoamericans had a ball game using rubber balls (see: Mesoamerican ballgame), and a few Pre-Columbian rubber balls have been found (always in sites that were flooded under fresh water), the earliest dating to about 1600 BCE. According to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, the Spanish Conquistadores were so astounded by the vigorous bouncing of the rubber balls of the Aztecs that they wondered if the balls were enchanted by evil spirits. The Maya also made a type of temporary rubber shoe by dipping their feet into a latex mixture. Rubber was used in various other contexts, such as strips to hold stone and metal tools to wooden handles, and padding for the tool handles. While the ancient Mesoamericans did not have vulcanization, they developed organic methods of processing the rubber with similar results, mixing the raw latex with various saps and juices of other vines, particularly Ipomoea alba, a species of Morning glory. In Brazil the natives understood the use of rubber to make water-resistant cloth. A story says that the first European to return to Portugal from Brazil with samples of such water-repellent rubberized cloth so shocked people that he was brought to court on the charge of witchcraft. A rubber (British English) When samples of rubber first arrived in England, it was observed that a piece of the material was extremely good for rubbing out pencil marks on paper. This was the origin of the material's English name of 'rubber'. Blocks of the material are still used for this purpose, and known as 'rubbers' in British English, causing occasional amusement to speakers of American English, to whom a 'rubber' is a condom (usually made from latex). (American English uses 'eraser' to refer to the rubber block.)
The rubber hydrocarbon is a chemical compound composed of two elements, carbon and hydrogen, and having the general formula (C5H8)n.The rubber hydrocarbon is present in latex as a suspension of minute particles varying in size from 4 to 20 millionths of an inch (0.1-0.5 micrometer). The largest particles can be viewed under the ultramicroscope and are seen to be in constant motion, exhibiting the phenomenon known as Brownian movement.
Rubber has two important properties that make it useful as an article of commerce. In the vulcanized state it is elastic, and after stretching returns to its original shape; and in the unvulcanized state it is plastic; that is, it flows under the effect of heat or pressure. One property of rubberlike materials is unique: when stretched they become warm, and when contracted they become cool. Conversely, rubber contracts when heated and elongates when cooled, exhibiting what is known as the Joule effect. When stretched several hundred percent, rubber orients to such an extent that it exhibits a crystalline X-ray fiber diagram. Hevea rubber has the cis configuration; balata and gutta percha have the trans form. As a poor conductor of electricity it is valuable as an electric insulator. Natural rubber (from Hevea braziliensis) has a structure composed of 97.8 percent cis-1,4-polyisoprene.
Seamed Latex
Seamed latex is one of two methods of fabricating latex clothing. Seamed latex involves cutting a pattern from sheet latex and then joining the separate pieces in a way that is reminiscent of conventional textile dress making. The most obvious difference is that the seams are usually glued rather than sewn. It is possible to sew very thick latex, but the resulting seams are not very strong. Thing approach can not be successfully used with tight fitting latex, only loose fitting items such as jackets. Thinner latex can be successfully sewn if the seam allowance is backed with cotton tape, the question is why bother? The tape has to be glued on, so why not simply glue the seam?
The process of designing and making latex clothing has many similarities with traditional clothing design, but also a great many differences. Both moulded latex and seamed latex clothing make use of the elasticity of latex rubber to minimize the amount of shaping required. Moulded latex clothing virtually eliminates all shaping, other than that formed by the side seams. This generally results in a very poor fit. However, seamed latex clothing employs shaping that is very similar to traditional clothing design.
One area in which shaping is required is the female bust. A female breast can occupy a very large volume and they can be very heavy. Large, heavy breasts create many problems for latex design. Most traditional clothing materials offer some resistance to the downward force imparted by large breasts. However, latex rubber is easily deformed by the weight of large breasts. The use of under bust wires to support big breasts also has limitations when used in conjunction with latex clothing design. The wires can easily cause tears at stress points, and under bust wires are dependent on support from non-elastic materials.
One alternative to breast support is breast compression. This technique is used in body stockings that are made from hosiery type fabrics. Latex is an ideal material for squeezing breasts against the chest wall. This form of breast binding can provide breast control for the very large breasts, but offers no breast shaping. Large bosom women often want to fully display their big breasts and breast cleavage. This is achieved within latex design through a clever approach to the limitations of latex clothing. The weakness of latex can be employed constructively, by employing the stretch property in just the right way. This can generate significant lift, allowing support of massive breasts without the use of wires and non-elastic fabrics. Another form of breast support can be achieved using latex corsets. Although the main function of a corset is waist reduction, they can also provide significant breast support. As with other types of latex clothing, latex corsets are generally a little smaller than their conventional fabric counterparts. However, the high proportion of rigid boning with latex corsets makes them less stretching than other latex clothing.
The principle differences between latex clothing design and traditional methods are the need to leave large seam allowances, increased reliance on the elasticity of the material, and a reduced tolerance to manipulation, e.g., gathers, curved seams, etc. This results from the fact that sheet latex is not woven and so there are no air spaces within the material to allow compression of the latex. This has a surprisingly significant affect on latex clothing design.
The need to leave large seam allowances in latex clothing design is due to the fact that seamed latex clothing is glued rather than sewn. In general, it is necessary to allow an allowance of about 10 mm on both pieces of sheet latex. This makes any sort of fine work difficult, especially when combined with the lack of compression allowance within the latex material, and renders many conventional design techniques unworkable.
Despite having a wonderful external appearance, latex clothing is not the easiest thing to wear. The inner surface of sheet latex is a high friction material that effectively sticks to skin. This quality makes latex rubber an ideal choice for vehicle tires, but a less obvious choice for clothing. This difficulty is one of the reasons that latex clothing remains on the periphery of clothing fashion. In order to wear latex clothing, it is necessary to "lubricate" either that inner latex surface, or your own skin. The two most common latex clothing lubricants are talcum powder and KY Jelly. KY Jelly is a water based vaginal lubricant used to facilitate vaginal penetration during sexual intercourse. It can also be used for anal penetration, breast intercourse and masturbation. A water based lubricant is required as oil based lubricants will damage latex clothing.
Moulded Latex
The most attractive latex garments are made from seamed latex. However, this approach to making latex clothing is expensive. It is very time consuming and requires skilled craftsmen such as Rubber Rapture technicians. Moulded latex and dipped latex products are better suited to the low cost end of the market. The designs used in moulded latex products are necessarily primitive, but they satisfy a need for people experimenting with latex fetish and latex clothing. Moulded latex clothing rarely fits well, due to the two dimensional approach taken to design and fabrication. These limitations are imposed by the equipment used. However, the result is a low cost, mass produced item.
Moulded latex products generally represent the low quality end of the latex clothing spectrum. Moulded latex clothing items are relatively quick and simple to manufacture. No skill is actually required on the part of the latex moulding equipment operator. However, moulded latex clothing items are severely restricted in quality of design. As a general rule, body shaping of moulded latex clothing depends largely on the elastic quality of latex rubber, rather than shaped fit. Where attempts are made to accommodate body shape, for example an allowance for female breasts, this often results in unsightly underarm gaps - particularly for women with small breasts. In addition, this breast allowance technique tends to be aimed at an average breast size of about a C-cup chest. Consequently, women with large breasts, D-cup breasts and larger, suffer a degree of breast binding, with their large breasts squeezed against their chest wall. Not only can this be uncomfortable, but it also gives a very unflattering breast shape. The breasts are squashed to give a flat profile. Although this breast shape forms automatically when large breast women lie on their backs and the breast envelop relaxes, this flat breast top profile should not occur when standing and looks unnatural.
The problem of breast gaps and breast squeezing results from the simple manufacturing technique for moulded latex clothing. In simple terms, moulded latex can only produce two-dimensional designs. The press employed combines two sheets of flat sheet latex and can only form side seams. Breast shaping requires a three-dimensional approach to shaping, as the breast envelope projects out from the chest wall. The bigger the breasts, the further they project and the greater the volume of space that they occupy. A simple calculation gives a rough idea of the volume occupied by female breasts. For example, the bra underwire of a UK G-cup bra is cm. This gives a circumference of approximately cm. As each breast forms one hemisphere of a dome, then the combined volume of both breasts is the volume of a sphere with that circumference. Consequently, G-cup breasts have a combined volume of cubic cm. Moulded latex clothing tries to accommodate this volume by leaving tolerance under the arms. The result is unsightly bagging for smaller breasts and breast shape distortion for larger breasts.
Dipped Latex
Dipped latex is probably the most common form of latex clothing manufacture, although its range of applications is very limited. Dipping is principally used in the manufacture of latex gloves, although it is also employed in the making of latex condoms, latex balloons, rubber stockings, rubber dildos and several other rubber items.
Dipped latex items are probably the easiest to manufacture, although it is difficult to introduce any form of variation in the design. Consequently, dipped latex manufacturing tends to be employed for high manufacturing volume items. There are also severe limits on the complexity of the design employed, so dipped latex items tend to be quite simple in design. Rubber gloves are probably the most complex design that is produced using dipped latex, but even gloves are little more than five cylinders.
As the name suggests, dipped latex involves a dipping, or immersion process. A mould in the shape of the required item, called a form, is lowered into a container of liquid latex. This liquid rubber is usually un-vulcanised. Any required pigmentation must be added to the liquid latex prior to the dipping of the mould form. Other additives, such as preservatives, may also be require.
During the dipping of the mould form, a thin layer of liquid latex adheres to the surface of the form. The amount of time required for the mould form to remain dipped in the liquid latex depends on several factors: the required thickness of the latex layer, the complexity of the mould form, and the consistency of the liquid latex employed. Complex shapes can not be fabricated by dipping latex as the finished latex item must be pulled, or stripped, off of the mould form. Complex designs are more likely to be snagged during stripping.
Once a sufficient coverage of liquid latex has built up on the mould form, it is removed from the latex and heat vulcanized. This process reduces the vulnerability of the dipped latex item to changes in ambient temperature. Un-vulcanized latex can become very soft when warm, or brittle when cold. As dipped latex items are often very thin, these physical changes can cause significant problems to the functionality of the latex item.
The dipped latex item is then coated with a fine layer of corn starch. This acts as a lubricant to prevent the latex material from sticking to itself. In the domestic environment, talcum powder is usually used for this purpose. Corn starch is used in the dipped latex manufacturing industry because it is cheaper, has a smaller particles, and is generally considered to have fewer health risks than talcum powder. However, the use of corn starch is now known to have a significant affect on problems caused by latex allergy. This is due to the ease with which latex proteins responsible for eliciting allergic reactions to natural latex adhere to the surface of the corn powder particles. This may be due in part to the organic nature of the particles. When dipped latex clothing are worn, they are often "snapped", particularly on removal of the clothing item. This snapping action creates a fine aerosol of starch particles in the air. This aerosol is then breathed in. There is a growing body of statistical evidence that suggests this constant inhalation of particles from dipped latex items dramatically increases the probability of an individual developing a sensitivity to latex rubber.
An alternative to using fine powders to lubricate dipped latex items is the use of water based gels. Oil based lubricants can not be used as they will chemically attack the latex rubber. This limits the use of gel lubricants to items that are environmentally sealed prior to use, as the water based lubricant will begin to dry when exposed to the atmosphere. Once the water solvent has evaporated, the dipped latex will be free to stick to itself. The single most common application of gel based lubrication for dipped latex items is the condom. However, water based gel lubricants are often employed in the fetish fashion industry. The use of talc as a lubricant results in a messy exterior surface that requires cleaning in order to obtain a high gloss finish. It also reduces the aesthetic appeal of clear latex as it greatly reduces visibility. The use of gel lubricants overcomes these problems, although it also creates others.
In addition to rubber gloves and latex condoms, dipped latex is also used in the manufacture of balloons. Although not actually worn, balloons have become an important part of latex related fetish sex - both via the use of conventional balloons, and the the use of inflatable latex clothing used for mummification. The latter is made using seamed latex techniques. As with latex gloves and latex condoms a male mould, or balloon form, is dipped into liquid latex. However, the balloon form is first dipped into a coagulent. This is a liquid that helps the liquid latex to adhere to the balloon form. The latex coagulent usually comprises calcium nitrate, alcohol and water. Once the coagulent coating has dried, the balloon form is dipped into the liquid latex. Brushes are used to form the neck of the balloon. A similar technique is used with latex gloves and latex stockings. The balloon form must then be washed to remove excess coagulent and vulcanized to cure the latex. Vulcanization is achieved by heating, or cooking, the balloon to about 210 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Once cooled, the latex balloon is stripped from the balloon form.
Latex Condoms
Condoms are the only form of protection which can both help to stop the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV and prevent pregnancy. Both male and female condoms are manufactured. Male condoms are a sheath or covering which fits over a man's penis. Female condoms are a vaginal sheath which fits inside the woman's vagina.
Condoms are usually made of natural latex or polyurethane rubber. Latex condoms are slightly more reliable than polyurethane versions. However, polyurethane condoms are essential for the small number of people with an allergic reaction to natural latex.
Latex condoms should only be used with water based lubricants. Oil based lubricants, such as Vaseline, will chemically attack the latex and cause the condom to fail.
Polyurethane rubber condoms are thinner than natural latex condoms. Consequently they offer increased sensitivity. However, they are more expensive than latex condoms, and require the use of more lubricant. Both oil and water based lubricants may be used with polyurethane rubber condoms.
Condoms may be packaged as pre-lubricated or not lubricated. Ready lubricated condoms use either silicone or water based lubricants.
Some rubber condoms and lubricants contain a spermicide called Nonoxynol 9. This was thought to help prevent both pregnancy and the transmission of STDs. However, recent research has shown Nonoxynol 9 to be completely ineffective. In addition, some people have an allergic reaction to Nonoxynol 9. This reaction actually increases the chance of the transmission of HIV!
Condoms come in a variety of shapes. Most, but not all, have a reservoir tip tho contain the ejaculated semen. They may have straight sides, form fitted with an indent below the penis head, or flared over the penis head. Some rubber condoms are textured with ribs or bumps in increase sensation. In addition, condoms may be coloured or flavoured. There is no standared length for condoms. However, natural latex condoms will stretch to fit the length of any erect penis. A number of manufacturers now offer different widths of condom.
Anal intercourse places more strain on the condom. Consequently, participants should either use thicker condoms or more lubricant. Do not use condoms containing Nonoxynol 9 for anal sex. Nonoxynol 9 damages the lining of the rectum, increasing the risk of HIV and other STD transmission.
If used properly, a rubber condom is very effective at reducing the risk of being infected with HIV during sexual intercourse. Using a condom also provides protection against other sexually transmitted diseases, and protection against pregnancy. In the laboratory, latex condoms are very effective at blocking transmission of HIV because the pores in latex condoms are too small to allow the virus to pass through. However, outside of the laboratory condoms are less effective because people do not always use condoms properly.
Latex condoms are made mainly from latex with added stabilizers, preservatives and vulcanizing agents. Latex is a natural substance made form rubber trees, but because of the added ingredients most latex condoms are not biodegradable. Polyurethane condoms are made from synthetic rubber and are not biodegradable. However, biodegradable latex condoms are available from some manufacturers.
Latex Fetish
The unusual properties of latex rubber make it an ideal material for use in making fetish wear. Rubber fetish has become more acceptable in recent years due to the use of rubber clothing by a growing number of celebrities.
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