 For many decades , rubber condoms were manufactured by wrapping strips of raw rubber around penis @-@ shaped molds , then dipping the wrapped molds in a chemical solution to cure the rubber . In 1912 , Polish inventor Julius <unk> developed a new , improved manufacturing technique for condoms : dipping glass molds into a raw rubber solution . Called cement dipping , this method required adding gasoline or benzene to the rubber to make it liquid . Latex , rubber suspended in water , was invented in 1920 . Latex condoms required less labor to produce than cement @-@ dipped rubber condoms , which had to be <unk> by rubbing and <unk> . The use of water to suspend the rubber instead of gasoline and benzene eliminated the fire hazard previously associated with all condom factories . Latex condoms also performed better for the consumer : they were stronger and thinner than rubber condoms , and had a shelf life of five years ( compared to three months for rubber ) . 
