A rubber blanket used in offset lithography that differs from a conventional blanket by including one layer (or more) of foam rubber, cork, or non-woven fabric fibers between plys of fabric backing. Compressible blankets, as their name indicates, can be compressed without causing deformations or structural damage to either the rubber surface or the fabric backing. Advantages of compressible blankets include the ability to utilize greater amounts of packing without producing a corresponding increase in printing pressure (which can contribute to plate wear, blanket wear, slurring, and a variety of other press and printing problems), reduced slippage between the plate and blanket, and a greater ability to recover from a blanket smash. (See Blanket.)
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