The so-called "nerve" lost in washing is partly recovered during the slow process of drying, which is effected by hanging the strips of rubber in large chambers exposed to a current of dry air. The drying of the washed rubber takes place more readily than in the case of rubber freshly prepared from latex, since the moisture is not so closely incorporated in the substance of the rubber. On the other hand many commercial rubbers, for example hard Para, contain a considerable proportion of the original moisture derived from the latex. When this moisture in addition to the water introduced during washing has to be removed, the drying process takes considerably longer.