In the home, they help cookies slide easily from their baking sheets. Outside, they help electricity get from one location to another more reliably. At the office and on the go, they help computer and smart-phone keypads withstand constant use day after day. Their flexibility, ability to perform at wide temperature ranges, electrical insulation properties, and durability are just a few of the ways standard silicone rubbers impact our daily live

"The selection of silicone rubber for use in a broad array of applications is a testament to its incredible versatility, and to the creativity and innovative nature of silicone rubber fabricators," said Justin Jorgensen, global marketing manager for Dow Corning's Xiameter brand, which offers high-quality, standard silicone rubbers online.

To consumers, there is little noticeable difference between the predominant types of silicone rubbers: high consistency rubber (HCR) bases, HCR compounds, and liquid silicone rubber (LSR). To fabricators, they are worlds apart.

In applications in which uncured rubber is extruded through a die to form a uniform size and shape, such as cables and hoses, HCRs are preferred because they retain their shape while they cure. LSRs generally are more suitable for injection molding applications that require complex, intricate molds, such as baby bottle nipples, or for use in highly automated injection molding systems with production runs involving large numbers of molded parts.

"Rubber application and processing requirements vary across the board, which can make selecting the right products a challenge," said Jorgensen. "With the Xiameter brand, we provide fabricators with the standard silicone rubber products they need without the cost or complexity of unnecessary customization."

To accommodate growing customer needs, the Xiameter brand recently added the Xiameter RBL-9200 series of general purpose LSRs, which can be used in a range of applications such as grommets, gaskets, seals and keypads. These LSRs feature improved rheology, which means the rubber can flow into molds more easily, as well as longer pot life, giving fabricators more time to work with the material before it cures.

"The products included in our Xiameter RBL-9200 series give fabricators additional flexibility in the manufacturing process," Jorgensen said. "The characteristics of these rubbers generally make them easier to work with and can even help fabricators be more efficient."

To help fabricators select the standard LSR or HCR that best meet their specific performance requirements, the Xiameter  brand has added eight new rubber selection guides to its website. Separate downloadable PDFs selector guides provide overviews of the rubber products available to customers in the Americas (HCR and LSR), Europe (HCR and LSR), Asia (HCR and LSR), and Japan specifically (HCR and LSR). In addition, an easy-to-use, online selector guide is available to help customers select the HCR compounds they need.