Tips

Table tennis tips - Tips for rubber cleaning

There's three general types of rubber cleaner on the market.

1) Liquids
These include water and cleaners like Stiga Energy Cleaner. Many people use water (or soapy water) and a household sponge to clean their rubbers. While these types of agents are ok for cleaning the rubber surface, they don't effectively clean in between the pores of the rubber where most of the grit and dust gathers through the ball pounding into the rubber surface. Energy Clean has some mild chemicals in its mixture that not only cleans the rubber surface but also leaves it close to its original playing properties. We usually recommend Energy Clean for less tacky rubbers and hobby bats.

2) Foam
The beauty of Stiga Energy Foam is its stickiness and the way it permeates the pores of rubbers. The foam combined with a high density sponge (see Stiga Rubber Wiper below) cleans rubbers better than any other type of cleaner. The mistake most people make when using Energy Foam is they use too much! Use it sparingly. The surface shouldn't feel slippery after you wipe it with your Stiga sponge. Make sure when cleaning the rubber you wipe the foam across the surface and fully remove all traces of foam. Avoid circular wiping motions because all you are doing is spreading dirt around. Think of the wiper as a razor and you are giving your rubber a shave! It's best if you use Energy Foam after playing and not immediately before.

3) Aerosols

The best thing about aerosols is they last forever! One bottle of Joola Dr.Tango or one tin of Joola Turbo Cleaner can last a long time. Once again, the trick is to use them sparingly. One squirt of Dr.Tango is enough for for one side of your bat and when using Turbo Cleaner one very short squirt is plenty to clean 2 rubber surfaces. While they don't clean as well as Stiga Energy Foam, they still do a good job and leave the rubber fresh and tacky. Joola Turbo Cleaner is great on all rubbers. Joola Dr.Tango is mainly for use with high-tension rubbers such as Tensors and Yasaka Xtend.

@ www.aussietabletennis.com

Related articles:

Share this post