Polyurethane vs Rubber

When it comes down to choosing to coat a roll or to not coat a roll, you may have a few questions that will come up in the decision making process.

Do These Materials Have Commonalities?

For adhering to metal cores, both are excellent.
When you need a pattern on the outer diameter of a roller to perform a specific task, both are machineable.
Both are elastomers, which means they both have elastic properties.
They are both fairly resistant to acid.

Do These Materials Have Commonalities?

When the application requires increased load capacity and friction, polyurethane surpasses natural rubber by far.
Polyurethane has a wider range (10 Shore “00” to 70 Shore “D”) while rubber is limited to 30 Shore A to 90 Shore A.
Rubber leaves marks when it comes in contact with other surfaces. However, polyurethane is non-marking whether it has pigment added to it or not.
If used in a wet environment, rubber can rot over time but polyurethane is durable even when submerged or exposed to wet environments for an extended period of time.
Formulations are almost unlimited when it comes to polyurethane. Rubber on the other hand will change its properties meaning that engineers have more options based on the properties their application requires.

Although the listed properties above do not begin to cover all the differences and similarities between both materials, it is enough to give you a good idea of what’s best for your roller application. No matter what your priority is, Universal Urethane will produce the best high quality polyurethane rollers that can stand up to and even exceed your particular specifications.