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Why can fluorine react violently with wood, cloth, and rubber?

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A labeled diagram of the periodic table entry for fluorine, showing its atomic number 9, symbol F, atomic weight 18.998, electron configuration, and indicating it is a halogen and a gas at room temperature. — fluorine Properties of fluorine.

Fluorine reacts violently with materials like wood, cloth, and rubber primarily because it is the most electronegative and powerfully oxidizing element known.12

Its extreme chemical reactivity is driven by its ability to strongly attract electrons and the small size of its atoms, which allows it to combine readily with almost all other elements. Because of this intense oxidizing power, fluorine reacts aggressively with organic matter. Consequently, the controlled fluorination of such substances is only possible when specific, rigorous precautions are implemented.12