As you can see from this discussion, there are some Americans who are aware of the British meaning of rubber but it is not used in the USA. Because of this, it is unreliable in the USA and many Americans might not know this meaning. When talking to Americans, it would be best to use the American word, eraser.

Silicone

What is another word for rubber?

Although both are polymers, plastic and rubber differ because: Rubber can be considered elastomers, and that’s why when compared to plastics, they are naturally more elastic. 2. Synthetic rubber is derived from crude oil, whereas synthetic plastic is made of petroleum and natural gas.

Technically, silicone could be considered part of the rubber family. But, if you define plastics widely, as we do, silicone is something of a hybrid between a synthetic rubber and a synthetic plastic polymer. Silicone can be used to make malleable rubber-like items, hard resins, and spreadable fluids.

Production Cost and Volume Considerations When low costs and high production volumes are required, plastic usually delivers faster cycle times and considerably lower material costs than rubber, which is partly due to the different processes involved.

Rubber is a name given to a lot of different polymers that are all elastomers. That is, they recover shape after being stretched or deformed. One well-known natural rubber polymer is polyisoprene, or natural rubber from the sap of hevea trees in Central America.