Crepe rubber

Crepe rubber is coagulated latex that is rolled out in crinkled sheets and commonly used to make soles for shoes and boots but also a raw material for further processed rubber products.

Latex collection from a rubber tree

Processing

Colloidal latex is first mixed with formic acid to cause it to coagulate. The coagulum is processed in a "creping battery", a series of machines that crush, press and roll the coagula. The sheets are hung in a heated drying shed and then sorted by grade and packed for shipping.

Types

There are several types and grades of rubber crepe, mainly distinguished by the grade and pre-processing of the latex used in their manufacture.[1]

  • Pale latex crepe (PLC) is a premium grade, made from raw field latex.
  • Estate brown crepe (EBC) is made from "cup lump" (raw, naturally coagulated rubber from the collection cup) and other coagula.
  • Re-milled crepe is made from "wet slab coagulum" (cured latex, still wet from the coagulation tanks), latex sheets (unsmoked) and cup lump.
  • Smoked blanket crepe is made from thick sheets of latex that have been processed in a smoker.
  • Flat bark crepe is made from scraps and other poor quality raw product.
  • Hand-powered latex creping machines
  • Removing coagulum from coagulating troughs
  • Creping battery
  • Milling honey-colored crepe
  • Milling white crepe
  • Spooling crepe from last finishing mill
  • Smooth crepe spooled for transfer to the drying shed
  • Wet coagulum crepe blanket
  • Smallholder's sheet in a drying shed
  • White crepe hanging in a drying shed
  • Laminating white crepe for sole crepe
  • Laminating honey-coloured crepe for sole crepe
  • Sole crepe inspection and packing
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References
  1. Cecil, John; Mitchell, Peter; Diemer, Per; Griffee, Peter (2013). "Processing of Natural Rubber, Manufacture of Latex-Grade Crepe Rubber". ecoport.org. FAO, Agricultural and Food Engineering Technologies Service. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
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