What do you call this type of rubber?

I was wondering what type of rubber this is generally known as. It’s found prominently as the top and bottom layers of this Jambox by Jawbone, but also feels like the same black rubber used on the bottom of Macbooks and a ton of other products that live on table tops.

I’m interested to make sure I call out the appropriate generally understood term in a design sketch. Thank you!

When I’m spec’ing CMFs, I usually call this out as “Soft touch” or “Soft touch paint”

i spec it as “you know that material that shows greasy finger prints that you cant get off”

Usually for simple render call outs I’d go with rubber and maybe a shore/texture reference.

Is this for a model?

It’s not soft touch paint, since soft touch paint is just a coating on a hard (non flexible surface).

It is either an injection molded TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) or TPU (Thermoplastic PolyUrethane).

This is the same type of molded material you’ll find on your tooth brush, or smart phone case. It’s better for overmolding/dual shot parts since it bonds better to substrate materials, and can be shot in a range of very hard to soft durometers.

Thanks guys, that’s exactly the info I was looking for! I really appreciate the lesson!

Looks like you’re right!

I found this via quick google search:
http://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/3215/jawbone-jambox-bluetooth-mobile-speaker-teardown

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spec a two-shot IM part :slight_smile:

That’s really cool to see the inside of that part, thanks for sharing it!

I prefer overmolded silicone over TPE because TPE’s tend to leak oil over time so I would have thought Yves Behar would have spec’ed it as silicone. Soft touch coating is used as a cheaper alternative but it scratches off easily so the plastic underneath the paint has to be the same color.

Oil leakage is gross. The Wacom Cintiq pens are guilty of this. If you leave one in a drawer for a long period of time after using it regularly you’ll discover the rubber grip is now a disgusting pool of slime from all the hand grease that has weeped out.

While TPEs don’t have the same performance characteristics of silicone, I never had an issue with oil seepage.

Silicones are expensive and need a high heat plastic like PC to work. Adds more cost. Also, the silicone molding needs to be segregated from “regular” molding at the shop because the silicone gets everywhere causing a lack of adhesion with TPE overmold/2-shot parts.