Vegetable oils were investigated as plasticizers to improve the sustainability of rubber compounding. The potential use of different vegetable oils as an alternative to petroleum‐based rubber process oils was reviewed. This article presents a literature review on the current understanding of the influence of vegetable oil properties on natural rubber (NR) compounding. Hansen solubility parameters of the vegetable oils were determined to assist with the selection of vegetable oil for NR. We believe that the use of Hansen parameters could make the use of vegetable oils in rubber more convenient and cost‐effective.