Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, as
initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound
isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds plus
water. Forms of polyisoprene that are used as natural rubbers are
classified as elastomers. Natural rubber is used by many
manufacturing companies for the production of rubber products.
Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of the latex from
the para rubber tree or others. The latex is a sticky, milky
colloid drawn off by making incisions into the bark and collecting
the fluid in vessels in a process called "tapping". The latex then
is refined into rubber ready for commercial processing. Natural
rubber is used extensively in many applications and products,
either alone or in combination with other materials. In major areas
latex is allowed to coagulate in the collection cup. The coagulated
lumps are collected and processed into dry forms for marketing. In
most of its useful forms, it has a large stretch ratio and high
resilience, and is extremely waterproof.
