Mechanism of the Leaching Process

Manufacturer: I am the head of the R&D department in a latex dipped products manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. In order for me to understand the importance of leaching, I need to know the mechanism involved during leaching. Can you help?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Over the years I've studied and analyzed the factors involved in the leaching process so as to achieve the most optimized leaching effectiveness for a variety of dipped products.

I've identified 7 steps which take place in sequence during leaching. I've sent this along with some details of each step to you separately. Please let me know if this is of any help.

Working Off of Old Latex Compounds

Manufacturer: We are using different latex compound formulations for different products. This always results in the built-up of old latex compounds of more than a few weeks old. How can we make use of old latex compounds to minimise wastage?


John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Beware of possible problems when using old latex compounds especially when it has already “over-cured” as it would lead to low elongation at break, high modulus and poor tensile strength and hence premature tearing.

You could try to blend this off into new and fresh compound but lab experiments must be carried out to see if the physical properties (i.e. tensile strength, modulus and elongation at break) are acceptable for the ratios of the blending you've selected

Another alternative is to use prevulcanised latex which does not normally over cure on storage.