Where does rubber get its name?

Joseph Priestly was a English scientist who discovered many important things like oxygen and soda water. One day in 1770 he was experimenting with small pieces of latex derived from a South American plant when he discovered it was useful for rubbing out pencil marks on paper. He called the little pieces “rubbers”. The name soon became the accepted name for the substance. Today it’s used to describe both natural rubber and synthetic rubber, which seems appropriate since today’s pencil erasers are made of synthetic rubber.

Natural rubber is made from latex which is the sap collected from Hevea brasilienis (rubber plants) and several other plants native to the Amazon rainforest. Most natural rubber today comes from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

While used in raincoats and as erasers, rubber didn’t become the popular substance it is today until Charles Goodyear discovered that process of vulcanization in 1839. Vulcanization is the process of curing or cooking the rubber and mixing it with sulfur. Without vulcanization rubber is sticky. Its becomes extremely softer when its warm and very brittle when its cold. Vulcanization makes rubber strong, smoother, and less sensitive to temperature.

Unfortunately, Goodyear was never able to fully make a profit from his invention. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich and J.P Morris reached a licensing agreement with Goodrich and bought the Hudson Rubber Company. This company failed but Goodrich wasn't one to quit. In 1870 he started another rubber company partnership, the Goodrich Tew Company, which later became B.F. Goodrich Company.