Distorted Latex Dipped Products

Manufacturer:We observed our latex dipped products distorted on the formers and also on stripping. We have sent our latex compound for analysis and confirmed that the curatives are working OK. Where could we have gone wrong?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Assuming your curatives are adequate for the required degree of cross-linking and cure state, I suspect your "maturation" period might not be sufficiently long enough. "Maturation" is to allow for some degree of "pre-vulcanisation" besides allowing the surfactants and soaps to reach an equilibrium state.

If you start dipping without "maturation" or with insufficient maturation, you are bound to have problems of "bagging" or "blowing" or distortion due to weak latex gel strength. Also, the finished products would be under cured despite good cure temperature and time which would also result in distorted and over-sized products during stripping.