What’s the Difference Between Rubber Extrusion and Compression Moulding?

Rubber Extrusion Process: Rubber extrusion is a continuous process where uncured elastomer is fed into a screw extruder and forced through a precision die under controlled pressure and temperature. Post-extrusion, the profile is vulcanized using hot air tunnels (180–220°C) or salt baths to achieve dimensional stability and material cure. This process is ideal for producing custom rubber profiles like tubing, D-seals, U-channels, cords, gaskets, heater hoses, pressure hoses and so on. It supports material hardness from 30 to 85 Shore A, with achievable tolerances around ±0.5 to ±1.0 mm, depending on the profile and material. EPDM, silicone, NBR, TPE, TPU, TPV, Butyl, EVA etc are commonly used. The Extrusion for Rubber and Plastics differ but at Centroid we have both technologies running hand to hand. Compression Moulding Process: Compression moulding is a batch process where pre-measured rubber is placed into a preheated mould (110–180°C) and compressed under high pressure for a defined cure cycle. This technique allows the creation of three-dimensional, high-precision components such as rubber bushings, bellows, dust boots, metal bonded products with SS (especially for surgical and medical), diaphragms. It’s ideal for medium to high-hardness rubbers (10–90 Shore A) and is well-suited for low to high production runs, especially where tooling cost and complex part geometry are factors. Tolerances can be tighter, typically ±0.2 to ±0.5 mm, depending on part size and material flow. All colours can be matched and products are manufactured on critical standards like FDA, USP class, CE, ISO 13485, UL etc. We have a well-kept clean facility with an excellent tool room. Combining Both: We use both extrusion and moulding in special custom seals, gaskets where you need a low cost but efficient solution. We extrude the specific part and join the same in custom lengths without losing their profiles and the same will be intact for a larger service life. This is mainly used in food container gaskets, led gaskets, thermos, vacuum flasks or bottles, microwavable utensils etc.