Happy Friday!
Hoping that you had a great week!
I go to a barre class every week that is taught by a very humorous instructor who used to be a professional dancer and also teaches yoga. It combines some work at the barre, but mostly floor exercises on a mat and Pilates-inspired moves. The segment of exercises that is an instant ticket to tooshie pain involves placing our hands on the barre and doing various lower body moves using a resistance band around the thighs. The instructor refers to these favorite instruments of torture as "elastic bands" which I find humorous because I think of elastic as the key element of waistbands, which (believe me) become more important as we age. Exercise resistance bands are made of either rubber or a synthetic material called thermoplastic elastomer that is latex free. But he loves those "elastic bands". Of note, he does join us in the exercises with the bands.
Elastic materials, starting with rubber, have been used for over 3500 years. Antoine Lavosier, an 18th century inventor and physicist, studied properties of elastic and developed the theory of elasticity - how materials deform under stress and recover their original shape and size when the stress is removed. The English inventor Thomas Handcock founded the British Rubber Company and patented elastic fastenings for gloves, suspenders, stockings and shoes in 1820. He also invented the "masticator" machine to unite small scraps of freshly cut rubber and avoid wastage. Around the same time, Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh discovered that coal-tar naphtha dissolved India rubber and he combined the dissolved rubber with wool to make the first practical waterproof fabric. However, it was easy to puncture and the natural oil in wool caused deterioration. It was also not very temperature resistant. Macintosh joined Hancock in 1821 to produce macintosh raincoats or "mackintoshes". Their masticated rubber was used in various products, and Hancock became the world's largest manufacturer of rubber goods.
American inventor Charles Goodyear, of tire fame, discovered the vulcanization process (pre-dating Star Wars) in 1839, treating rubber with sulfur to improve its strength and elasticity. This revolutionized the production of rubber products to make them more durable and resistant to temperature changes. Without Goodyear, our tires would melt when driving during the Texas summer!
The rubber band, made of vulcanized natural rubber, was patented by British inventor Stephen Perry in 1845. They were made by his company although the USA is now the largest manufacturer of rubber bands in the world (Alliance Rubber Company, "holding your world together"). The US Postal service is its biggest customer. The biggest rubber band ball in the world was made by Joel Waul from Florida. It was 2 meters high with a circumference of 6.3 meters and weighed 4,100 kg. He called it the Megaton, and it was comprised of more than 700,000 rubber bands. The Megaton made it into the Guiness Book of Records in 2008.
The 20th century brought about synthetic elastics such as polyester, nylon and spandex which are even more durable and elastic than natural rubber. Elastic webbing (a.k.a. "elastic band") was invented in the early 20th century by Frenchman Paul Dubois who patented a striated elastic band made of rubber threads woven into cotton or silk fabrics. This was initially used in corsets and girdles. American inventor Arthur Shattuck developed a process for manufacturing elastic webbing with synthetic rubber, making it more affordable and widely available. It is widely used in many products to provide comfort, flexibility and durability.
Elastic tape is a narrow, flexible strip made with spandex, rubber or latex. It is commonly used in clothing, medical and athletic applications. Its use took off in the 1970s and 1980s in sports medicine and physical therapy. The elastic tape that provides support to muscles and joints without restricting range of motion was invented by Japanese chiropractor Dr. Kanzo Kase.
Elastic is used with textiles to make clothing, fitted bedsheets, swimwear, underwear, and accessories. Disposable medical garments, surgical masks and surgical shoe covers contain elastic. It is also used in orthodontics ("rubber bands") and incorporated into athletic braces, shoes, boots, watch bands, bungee cords, and cords use in backpacks, straps and parachute suspension lines.
Then there are "Rubbers". You know what I mean and I would be remiss to omit them. Three thousand years ago, they were made of animal bladders, oiled silk paper or linen and used to fight syphilis epidemics (there resurging need for that purpose now!). The first rubber (reusable) condoms made their appearance in 1855. The development of liquid latex allowed the mass production of cheaper and thinner products that were mass distributed during WWI and WWII as well as during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s to thwart the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Today's latex-free options include polyisoprene and polyurethane.
Elastic tape comes in 3 flavors: braided, knitted and woven, all of which have different qualities and stretch. Braided elastic has parallel ribs that run lengthwise. It narrows when stretched and is often used in enclosed casings such as necklines or sleeves. Braided elastic loses its stretch when sewn through. Knitted elastic is, as the name implies, made by knitting fibers together and it maintains its width when stretched and sewn through. Woven elastic, or "no roll" elastic, has both vertical and horizontal "ribs" that are strong and firm. It keeps its shape no matter what and is used for heavy-duty projects, waistbands on clothes made of thicker fabrics or outwear.
Natural elastics are biodegradable. In fact, I found out the hard way that they can disintegrate in a garment after just hanging in one's closet for a while. I suspect that most of us have had the experience of our elastic waistbands mysteriously enlarging over time and losing their elasticity.
The development of elastics was truly an international effort and changed the world. And the barre class. Have a good weekend!
Deb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QwUCR1NHpg
P.S. I will be away next week, so have a happy Friday August 21 and I'll be back in your inbox on the 28th.