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Vulcanised rubber soles

Vulcanised rubber, also known as 'composition rubber', continues to be acknowledged as the most versatile of sole materials.

The term 'rubber' is a broad one. It encompasses a range of polymers which are, to some extent, rubbery in nature (having elasticity, flexibility and grip), as required by most footwear soles. In addition to vulcanised rubber, this group includes crêpe, thermoplastic rubber, reaction moulded polyurethane, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and even thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in their softer grades. However, in this article we are going to focus specifically on materials based on rubber obtained from tree latex or synthetic elastomers, that can be mixed (‘compounded’) with other substances into a ‘composition’ which is then 'vulcanised'.

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