In the 21st century, nearly all clothing has some Spandex, but how did we get to this point? When did we start adding elastic to textiles? Rubber has played a critical role in the history of the world, not always for the better. We find natural and synthetic rubber everywhere around us today, and this future was predicted and planned for as far back as the 1840s. The actual history of rubber goes back much further, however, and has played an important role in societies for thousands of years.

Early on latex rubber, in the form of raw tree sap, was commonly used and processed by many Mesoamerican civilizations. It works well as an insulator, waterproofing, and hardens when smoke cured. Though this region processed rubber for their uses for thousands of years effectively, it took around 200 years from the European contact of this region for the product to be safely transported across the ocean.

As of the 18th century, tests were being done to discover ways of stabilizing rubber, but very little came of the efforts until early in the 19th c. Thomas Hancock and Charles Goodyear, among others, found ways to take natural rubber and alter its form to be of use to a rapidly growing industrial society. Patented processes like Mastication and Vulcanization created a massive demand for rubber products, and raw rubber sources.

As the use of rubber spread through industrial and domestic situations in the 19th century, efforts to find and exploit natural sources grew. This lead to devastating effects on local populations of colonized areas and actually lead to changes in political and governmental leadership in areas like the Congo. Spurred on by the issues surrounding the cultivation and collection of natural rubber, a synthetic option was sought after. It wasn't until the 1930s that DuPont first discovered Duprene, later renamed Neoprene, and started to accelerate the use of rubber once again. Ever wonder why it's called Rubbermaid?

By the 1960s, Lycra spandex was added to the list of patents and from then on our closets were never the same. Even ignoring the massive rise of athleisure in the last decade, nearly all clothing sold in the US has some level of spandex. A little bit of stretch means clothing is easier to fit, but it comes at the price of environmental damage. The future of rubber is not unlike its past we are still struggling to reduce the impact this good has on the environment and communities around the world. But it has become so embedded in our daily lives that it is impossible to get rid of. Instead, efforts focusing on recycling and reduction of waste can help to mitigate the damage. Rubber is just another product that is constant in our lives that we often know so little about so let's change that!

Bibliography and Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c...

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00:00 What is Elastic?
01:57 Early History
04:15 Stabilization
08:00 Gutta Percha
09:51 Vulcanization & Goodyear
16:33 Deadly Effects
17:59 Neoprene & War
20:55 Lycra Spandex
22:04 Modern Rubber

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