Rubber Band Grades and Qualities
USARubberBands.com provides rubber bands in three standard grades. The list below summarizes the qualities inherent to each grade.
Premium Grade Rubber Bands (80-90% Rubber content)
- High count per pound.
- Highest tensile strength.
- Easy stretch application.
- A wide range of available sizes.
- Used for Custom orders & Custom Color orders.
- Long life…great for reuse.
- 500%+ elongation
- Highest cost per pound (*)
- Meets Federal Specification AA-131-A.
Postal Grade / Mid-Range Quality Rubber Bands (70-75% Rubber content)
- Mid-range rubber content
- Good count per pound.
- High tensile strength.
- A wide range of available sizes.
- 400+/-% elongation
- Moderate price per pound (*)
- Good for industrial applications.
Economy Quality Rubber Bands
- Intended for one time use (bands do not return to their original size after being stretched).
- Available in the most commonly used sizes.
- Lowest cost per pound (*)
- Good tensile strength
- Heavier band with firm stretch
- 300% elongation+/-.
(*) – Rubber is light and the fillers used to reduce rubber content (usually Clay or paraffin) normally weight twice that of rubber. Therefore the counts per pound usually drop about 15% for each 10% rubber content reduction. So while Premium bands have a higher price per pound, the price per piece may actually run the same as the economy product.