Rubber materials have become popular as a surfacing option due in large part to the many benefits that they offer. With long lasting durability, rubber mat flooring maintains resilience and toughness in the presence of abrasive environments while offering a wide-ranging availability of styles, colors, and sizes—it seems to have no equal when it comes to applications. However, as is normally the case with all variations of materials, some options are better suited for particular applications. For example, some rubber mats are perfect for outdoor use due to the raw materials used in their production, while others are specifically designed for use within kitchens, or under heavy equipment, like washers, dryers, and treadmills.

When talking about rubberized floor matting, more often than not it will encompass the entire surface space of a room’s floor. With some flooring options such as interlocking tiles and rubber rolls and runners this is easily achievable. Mats on the other hand denote specific use in contained locations or coverage for smaller areas. Nevertheless, the rubber floor mat material that you chose to utilize should always offer the best quality. Ensuring that we get all the benefits that we are looking for requires picking the right material and style. Because rubber mat flooring is available in so many styles, it’s easy to see why this is a preferred surfacing option for short or long term use. Here are the three main forms in which rubberized surfacing are available:

• Interlocking Tiles

  True to the name of their style, interlocking tiles can be snapped together and used to cover wide ranging areas. Interlocking options also come with end pieces that will give your matting a finished and polished look. Some of these end pieces are beveled edges, which makes them great for wheel chair accessibility.

• Rubber Rolls/Runners

  Like tiles, rubber rolls are exceptional for use in larger areas that need more extensive coverage. This option can be cut to custom lengths and is available as one solid piece up to 50 ft. This allows for less seams when installed and offers a water tight surface across its length.

• Stand Alone Mats

  Finally, rubberized floor matting is also available as individual mats. These mats are well suited for a number of applications that can range from the kitchen to the gym. They can be perforated for use in foodservice, have rough textures to maximize slip resistance, or the rubber mats can be ultra thick and used to protect floors or equipment.

The rubber materials that are used to create these flooring surfaces are as important as the design. The materials will have a direct effect on the application of the matting option, resulting in some rubber mats being better suited for outdoor or indoor use. To understand what option is better suited for your particular needs, here is a breakdown of these four main materials:

• Natural Rubber

  This is ecologically friendly option comes from a white substance called latex that is harvested from a species of tree named Hevea Brasiliesis. This tree is native to South America, but is also grown in places like Africa and Asia in a 1400 mile area around the equator known as the “Rubber Belt.” Raw rubber, after it has been harvested, is put through vulcanization, or compounding, which fortifies the natural qualities of this material by allowing it to maintain its elasticity in extreme temperatures. Some advantages of NR are its high tensile and tear properties and resistance to cold flow, meaning that it can maintain good flexing qualities even at low temperatures (NR will maintain flexibility down to -60 degrees Celsius).

• Synthetic Rubber

  A product born out of necessity, like all great things, synthetic rubber was created during the World War II period when natural rubber was not readily accessible. Chemists set out to create a synthetic option that possessed characteristics similar to natural rubber, and ended up creating something that far exceeded their expectations. Synthetic elastomers offer a blend of materials and other highly desirable compounds—all of which afford different benefits when used in floor matting options. The following are the two main compounds that are found in synthetic rubbers:

1. SBR— Styrene-Butadiene is a copolymer (or two different types of molecules that are joint in the same polymer chain) of styrene and butadiene. This material has moderate oil and ozone resistance, but it is usually not recommended for sever oil or ozone resistant applications. This material does, however, have good abrasion resistance and aging stability.

2. Nitrile—Acrylonitrile-Butadiene rubber is widely employed due to its exceptional resistance to petroleum products, animal greases, and oils. It also has great tear and abrasion resistance, which makes it well suited for heavy-duty environments, especially within kitchens. However, it does have poor ozone and weather resistance, so it is better suited for indoor use.

• Crumb Rubber

  This material is produced from discarded automobile tires. After the tires have been stripped of metal and other structural materials or contaminants, such as gravel, dirt, and glass—the tires are chopped and shredded. Depending on mesh size (composed of unified granules) and other factors such as crumb coloring (all black or black and white), the material is sent to different producers and utilized to make different products. For rubber mats, the crumb rubber is put back together with the use of a binder, which is most often polyurethane-based. Rubber floor mat material of this caliber is very resistant to abrasions but does not do well in terms of chemical resistance.

• Reclaimed Rubber

  Like crumb rubber, reclaimed rubber also begins as discarded automobile tires and other recycled rubber materials. However, unlike crumb, the reclaimed rubber floor mat material is exposed to a different processing method which results in a newly vulcanized material that will be turned into rubber mats. Reclaimed rubber, after it has been ground down to a powder, is then exposed to a devulcanization—a process which will delink the sulfur molecules from the rubber molecules, facilitating the creation of new and stronger cross-links. Rubber materials that go through the vulcanization process are more resistant to high temperatures and less susceptible to becoming brittle in cold temperatures. The vulcanization process will also make the rubber mat flooring more resistant against chemical substances.

When it comes to finding the right floor matting option for your specific needs, rubberized surfacing offers a wide range of choices that will fulfill nearly any application.