Nathaniel M. Hayward

American inventor

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June 29, 2026

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Nathaniel M. Hayward (1808–1865) was an American inventor who discovered that rubber treated with sulfur was not sticky. Charles Goodyear later bought Hayward's process and, in 1839, accidentally discovered vulcanization by dropping rubber mixed with sulfur onto a hot stove. This process made rubber commercially viable by preventing it from becoming sticky or susceptible to extreme temperatures. While Goodyear is credited with the discovery of vulcanization, Hayward's initial work with sulfur-treated rubber was a crucial step in this development.1

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Charles Goodyear
…few years he worked with Nathaniel M. Hayward (1808–65), a former employee of a rubber factory in Roxbury, Mass., who had discovered that rubber treated with sulfur was not sticky. Goodyear bought Hayward’s process. In 1839 he accidentally dropped some India rubber mixed with sulfur on a hot stove and…
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…few years he worked with Nathaniel M. Hayward (1808–65), a former employee of a rubber factory in Roxbury, Mass., who had discovered that rubber treated with sulfur was not sticky. Goodyear bought Hayward’s process. In 1839 he accidentally dropped some India rubber mixed with sulfur on a hot stove and…
Read More