Drawback of natural rubber:
1. It has low tensile strength. 2. It is too weak to be used in heavy duty operation. 3. During summer, the raw rubber becomes soft and sticky, while in cold weather it becomes hard and brittle. 4. On stretching, it undergoes permanent deformation. 5. It has a large water absorbing capacity. 6. It is affected by solvents like gasoline, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, vegetable oils etc. 7. It gets tarnished in air due to oxidation. As a result, its durability is considerably by vulcanization.
The method used to overcome these drawbacks is Vulcanisation.