A brief History of plastics

Plastics are thought of as 'new' but they have a long history.

Before the development of ‘synthetic’ plastics, plastics were in use that came from natural materials without chemical processing.

A resin from the Japanese lacquer tree (Rhus verniciflua) has been used by the Chinese since 1000 BC to form waterproof and durable coatings and was still used in until the 1950s to coat domestic tableware.

Amber is a thermoplastic resin from fossilised trees and is found mainly on the Baltic Coast. The material can be mixed into lacquers or small pieces pressed into compression moulds to produce small articles. Documented use 50 B.C.

Horn - This behaves like a typical thermoplastic sheet and can be split and moulded into shape after heating in hot water. Layers can also be laminated together to build thicker products or pressed into wooden moulds to form snuff boxes or buttons. The raw material can also be ground up and mixed with a binder (such as blood) before being compression moulded for buttons and other products

Tortoiseshell - This is actually the shell of a turtle but it can be cut and shaped, similar to horn, to keep an attractive pattern for a variety of articles.

Around 1550 Valdes describes first reference to natural rubber in reports of expeditions to Central America. The native Indians used the material for sports and waterproofing.

Around 1650 John Tradescant introduces gutta percha to the West after his travels in the East collecting plants. Gutta percha was used to make products from garden hoses to furniture for many years and was only replaced for undersea cable insulation in the 1940's.

In 1843 Thomas Hancock patents the 'vulcanisation' process for rubber. Two years later Robert William Thompson invents the rubber tyre

1851 - Ebonite is patented and commercialised by Nelson Goodyear (USA). Charles Goodyear and Thomas Hancock both find that excess sulphur during vulcanisation leads to ebonite. Ebonite is a hard, dark and shiny material used for jewellery, fountain pens, pipe stems and was the basis for most dental plates (with pink colouring) for nearly 100 years. The material can also be inlaid with metals or painted to produce very decorative objects.

John Wesley Hyatt (USA) wins a competition to find a better billiard ball, for a prize of $10,000, with a ball made from 'celluloid' (a commercialised form of cellulose nitrate or nitro-cellulose made less brittle by the addition of camphor). Celluloid was used to make spectacle frames, knife handles and photographic film.