Rubber in the Home

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 623, 27 March 1929, Page 7

Rubber in the Home

Coloured and Comfortable

’THERE seems a probability, at any rate, that these present * days of grace in which we live may be known to future generations of home.makers as the Neocaoutchouc or New Rubber Age.

Precedent lias given u.s the Neolithic or New Stone Age, during which our forefathers and foremothers, emerging from the Paleothic Age, found hitherto unimagined uses for stone; and are not we moderns almost every day now findingout fresh and wonderful uses for rubber ? "

I TT is not long ago in actual years since we emerged from the ideai hound twilight of the Paleo-caoutchouc | Age—when, roughly speaking, the only ; rubber inspirations which materialised | were cubes of “India rubber,” greyi faced playing balls, hot-water bottles and mackintoshes. But what spectacular progress have we made in the time! For one thing—and that not the least important—rubber is now beautiful. At the Ideal Home Exhibition held overseas last year, one was able to see at one of the exhibits the House of the Future, the many wonderful uses to which rubber has been put. In this country we have seen a few of the latest innovations, such as coloured bath mats, fancy sponges, animals, and floors, but we have yet to see many of the newest rubber articles. FLOORS AND FURNITURE There are few uses in the modern house to which rubber is not put. There are rubber floors aud walls; furniture is rubber upholstered, mattresses rubber stuffed. There are even two types of rubber upholstery—the sponge and the pneumatic. It is with the former that the mattresses and chairs* chesterfields and cushions are filled. Mattresses so made are the last word in luxurious ease. They cannot sag or become lumpy, consequently they never need remaking. They are self-ventilating completely hygienic. They are so extraordinarily resilient that one’s body is adequately and naturally supported in whatever position it may choose to assume on them. To the invalid they bring bed-com-fort such as he has never known before, and the most inveterately insomnious find themselves making their unaccustomed way to the Ivory Gate of Dreams down a path that is paved with rubber sponge! And, talking of paths, delightful crazy paving is fashioned from rubber; plain paths, too. All the paving in the garden of the House of the Future was of rubber, crazy and plain.

MANY NEW USES FOUND

Floors for the garden; floors for the house. Architects and the building public are undoubtedly paying more and still more attention to this idea. Its advantages are obvious, especially in this noise-cursed, nerve-racked age of ours. Rubber flooring can be laid on almost any existing floor—wood, concrete or stone. A wood base appears to give the best results. It must, however, be thoroughly seasoned —a counsel of perfection, possibly, in these days! TEST FIRST There are many people who. like a timid bather, prefer to sample the water with a testing toe before taking the plunge; people who, in other words, are not quite sure about that rubber floor. Let them, then, first experiment with one of the sponge rubber carpets that can now be bought. These have a soft deep velvety pile, and are decorative to a degree. If that does not convince the timorous, nothing will. In the bathroom, especially, rubber is indicated. Floors of it; walls of it —splash-proof, wear-proof; rubberised curtains at the windows and round the shower. And —subtle finishing touch that will give the “somehow different” effect that many strive for in their rooms—a set of delightful accessories in velvety sponge rubber; bathside mat, sponge, face-glove, covers for loofah and bath stool. These are being made in any colours, to “go” with. any scheme, and people with ideas can have their own designs carried out. In the kitchen, also, rubber is indicated. It is greaseproof and waterproof, and very easily cleaned. Soothing, too, to the nerves of the staff, if they are inclined to be “temperamental!” Also, with a rubber floor and a rubber-lined sink, breakages are reduced to a minimum. Those who go into this question of furnishing with rubber will find not only that it is adaptable to almost every household need, but that it will wear for a lifetime.