WHAT IS LATEX
Recently Latex has increasingly entered popular awareness: celebrities and artists have been wearing it for years on the red carpet or in music videos, while three luxury brands incorporate it into their collections on catwalks around the world. As a result, street fashion has adapted to the trend and numerous Fast Fashion stores today sell latex clothing.
However, there is some confusion between clothing that is truly made from natural latex and clothing that is made from artificial latex. Media and shops in fact often use the term "latex", as a synonym for any material that is tight, shiny and with a wet effect such as Vinyl, PVC and Spandex. These are in fact extremely different materials from real Latex: they are completely artificial, free of natural components and derived from plastic.
Latex is the raw material from which innumerable natural rubber products originate: it is a milky liquid with a rubbery and extremely elastic consistency, extracted from plants. The primary source of this material is the tropical rubber tree (Hevea Brasiliensis or rubber tree) but it can also be obtained from other higher plants (gen. Angiosperms) and from some mushrooms (gen. Lactarius).
Latex is obtained from the incision of the trunk: the liquid flows in a complex system of canals and canals within the plant, precisely in the "laticiferous" pots of roots, stems, stem, leaves and (sometimes) fruits. Latex has a rubbery and extremely elastic appearance, has a milky-white appearance, even if it is sometimes orange, yellowish or even purple-red.
The most important property recognized in latex is the elasticizing one: it seems that this liquid is by far the most elastic known in nature. Immediately after being subjected to stretching or pressure, the latex summarizes its original shape: from here we understand the reason why latex is widely used to make gloves and elastics. Furthermore, latex exerts excellent antibacterial, anti-mold and fungicidal properties: for this reason, latex is a material widely used to make mattresses and countless sanitary articles.
