100% Recycled Products - The Rubberman uses 100% recycled rubber – mostly from millions of scrap car and truck tires – promoting environmentally friendly practices that help conserve energy and decrease the impacts of pollution.
Vulcanization - In the vulcanization process, rubber is chemically treated to give it greater strength, elasticity, and stability. In fact, vulcanized rubber is about 10 times stronger and 10 times more rigid than natural rubber.
Re-Vulcanization - The Rubberman uses a manufacturing process for our equine and fitness matting called re-vulcanization. In this process, devulcanized recycled rubber crumb from recycled rubber tires go through the vulcanization process again, chemically bonding the rubber under extreme pressure and heat to create the most durable and dense mat possible.
Advantages of using re-vulcanized rubber:
Masticated Rubber – Our masticated rubber sheets and rolls are fully cured and fiber-reinforced from tire manufacturing by-products, including uncured rubber and nylon fiber. This unique process results in higher tensile strength, tear strength, resilience, wear characteristics, ozone resistance, low temperature resistance, and durability.
Masticated rubber sheets and rolls are often used for applications including automotive, heavy truck, and horse trailers.
Molded Rubber – Molded rubber products are created by pressing a block of rubber into a rubber molding metal cavity. The rubber is then exposed to heat, which causes a chemical reaction. While methods vary, all rubber manufacturers use heat and pressure to form molded rubber products. The three most common methods are rubber injection molding, compression molding, and transfer molding.
Rotocuring – Short for Rotary Curing Press, Rotocuring is used for vulcanizing and curing rubber sheeting used for conveyor belts, rubber sheets and rubberized fabric.
Waterjet Cutting – In this process, a jet of water at high pressure is used to cut the rubber material, allowing extremely precise and intricate cuts. Using water minimizes the effects of heat which allows the material to be cut without harming or changing intrinsic properties. With specialized software and 3-D machining heads, complex shapes can be produced.