What Are Rubber-Soled Shoes

What are rubber-soled shoes?

Rubber soles are made from natural rubber or synthetic rubber.

Rubber soles are highly elastic and wear-resistant, and can withstand repeated bending, stretching, and compression without damage, improving comfort and responsiveness.

Rubber soles are also acid- and alkali-resistant, making them suitable for rainy days. Rain boots, for example, are made of rubber.

Rubber sole materials are divided into two main categories: natural rubber and synthetic rubber.

1. Natural Rubber

The advantage of natural rubber is its exceptional softness and elasticity, making it suitable for a variety of sports.

The disadvantage is that it is not very wear-resistant, and natural rubber is often used in indoor sports shoes.

Rubber is a natural material with environmental benefits, making it a popular choice for safety shoe soles.

Because natural rubber soles are relatively dense, safety shoe soles tend to be heavier.

2. Synthetic Rubber

Synthetic rubber is further categorized into wear-resistant rubber, environmentally friendly rubber, air-repellent rubber, sticky rubber, hard rubber, and carbon-reinforced rubber.

(1) Wear-resistant rubber: Wear-resistant rubber has excellent wear resistance and toughness and is very durable. This rubber material is generally used on the outsoles of tennis shoes.

(2) Environmentally friendly rubber: Also known as recycled rubber, this rubber outsole contains up to 10% recycled rubber, mainly for environmental protection.

(3) Air rubber: The rubber contains air and has a certain shock absorption function, but it is not wear-resistant and is not widely used.

(4) Sticky rubber: Sticky rubber is characterized by good flexibility and is very non-slip. It is generally used on indoor sports shoes.

(5) Hard rubber: Hard rubber is the most comprehensive rubber in the outsole rubber material. It is tough, non-slip and wear-resistant, and has a wide range of uses. Multi-purpose shoes and basketball shoes are mostly made of this type of rubber for the outsole.

(6) Carbon-added rubber: Carbon elements are added to ordinary rubber materials to make the rubber more tough and wear-resistant. Running shoes mostly use this type of rubber. The letters BRS are left on the back of the sole of the running shoe to indicate that the outsole uses carbon-added rubber.