I daily get rubber bands, I collect them and store it in one of shelves so that I could use them later.
At certain times, when I require it for use, they would have changed their form to a sticky- type band which makes me throw the entire collection to waste pit. When widened, they will break up.
Ultimately, I will have to go for other means. Is there any hack to prevent this so that I can start stocking it again?
Office purpose rubber band I mentioned is this one:
Rubber-band get sticky because they oxidize. A similar question was asked on physics:
Is there any way to increase a rubber-bands lifetime?
It has a very good answer, but to summarize it: "Keep them in a dark and cool place (away from light and oxygen as much as possible)".
Rubber bands become brittle with age due not so much to oxidation but rather to evaporation of volatiles in the rubber/plastic material they are made of. These volatile parts of their plastic/rubber components are what keep them soft and flexible, and the loss of them causes them to become stiff and break as they age.
Keeping rubber bands in unopened or otherwise airtight packaging and then storing the package in cool locations will slow this evaporation and thus aging/brittleness. This is why rubber bands don't normally go bad in their original package but do so when stored loose after opening. You see the same behavior in the rubber (paper) pickup rollers inside laser printers which become less soft/flexible and 'sticky' to paper over time inside a printer, but stay 'fresh' for years while sealed inside their original packaging prior to installation.
I have not tested this yet, but sealing rubber bands inside an airtight freezer bag (with the air squeezed out) and then storing this in a freezer will probably slow or stop any evaporation of these volatiles if long term storage is desired. In general, colder temperatures slow or stop many chemical and physical processes, which is why freezers are good for food preservation.
Keep them under water in a sealed container.
Water will retard the outgassing of volatile solvents in the rubber and help keep them supple for a longer period of time.
Has anyone considered storing your rubber bands in a refrigerated jar covered in mineral oil to keep them fresh and pliable?
Non-latex rubber bands are suppose to last longer. You can find them online and at some brick-and-mortar stores.
Put them in a zip lock bag and put it in the FREEZER - I'm still using rubber bands bought 8yrs ago.
Store rubber bands in any container but shoot some butane or propane into the container to replace the oxygen in the air.
Add baby powder or talcum powder to the (box, bag, etc.) that the rubber bands are stored. Rubber glove makers have been doing this for decades.
There are a number of processes happening which are causing your rubber bands to deteriorate. One perhaps surprising cause is that rubber bands are affected by ozone in the air, to the extent that rubber bands are used to test the amount of ozone in the air. Ozone and rubber deterioration
Ozone is naturally found in air, particularly as a result of a lightning strike or other electrical activity (e.g., high voltage equipment, fluorescent lighting). Ozone is responsible for the "fresh" air after a storm. The only way to isolate your rubber bands from ozone is by storing them in an airtight container.
If you have a large bag of rubber bands, you should break them into smaller collections in airtight containers, and use up all the rubber bands in one of the smaller containers before opening another collection. That way, the rubber bands are exposed to new air for a shorter amount of time before they are used. That will also reduce the effect of ordinary oxidation on the rubber bands (which is probably less significant than the effect of ozone, depending on the exact composition of the rubber bands).
Another effect is the loss of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the rubber bands. Keeping them in a small container might help with that (the VOCs exchange between the rubber bands and the air in the container might reach equilibrium sooner in a small container?) but probably a better solution is to keep the containers you are not using somewhere cool (basement, refrigerator, or freezer).
Finally, UV light will have a negative effect on rubber, so you should keep your rubber bands in the dark.
You can pay more to get rubber bands with a UV and Ozone resistant coating, which may be beneficial depending on the application.
