Cleaning rubbers: what to use and what not

With every session of play, the topsheet of an inverted rubber accumulates a layer of dust, body grease and residue from the ball that cannot be seen but can be felt. The surface loses grip, the spin generated drops and the feel of the contact becomes less crisp. On pimpled rubbers — short or long, described in 6.2 and 6.3 — the effect is smaller because the contact surface is different, but dust builds up between the cylinders and eventually affects the behaviour. Cleaning a rubber does not extend its life indefinitely — the chemical degradation of the rubber runs on its own clock, as explained in 4.6 — but it does maintain nominal performance for longer.

The right product is a cleaner made specifically for table tennis rubbers. Every major brand makes one in two formats: liquid spray and foam. Both are water-based solutions with mild surfactants that dissolve grease without attacking the rubber. The difference between formats is minor: foam runs off towards the edges less, spray covers more evenly. Either does the job.

The technique is straightforward. A moderate amount is applied to the rubber and spread with a purpose-made cleaning sponge or a clean microfibre cloth, in one direction, without hard rubbing. Rubbing aggressively does not clean better: it deforms the microtexture of the topsheet and accelerates the mechanical wear that 13.7 describes as a sign of the end of life. Once the product is spread, it is left to air-dry for a few seconds and the excess is removed with the dry side of the cloth. The surface should end up matt and slightly tacky to the touch — on inverted rubbers — not shiny or wet.

A reasonable frequency is after every session of play. Cleaning before playing makes no sense if the rubber was stored clean; wiping between sets with a damp cloth is a widespread habit of debatable value. What does matter is removing the residue accumulated after two or three hours of contact with balls and with sweat from the hands. Skip several sessions and the build-up forms a more stubborn film that is harder to remove and that has already begun to reduce the grip.

What should not be used deserves an explicit list, because home-made substitutes circulate on forums as often as good advice.

• Alcohol (isopropyl, ethyl, cologne). It dissolves grease effectively, but it also attacks the rubber of the topsheet. With repeated use the surface hardens, loses elasticity and turns brittle. It is the most damaging substitute of all.
• Glass cleaner and household products. They contain ammonia, solvents or perfumes that leave chemical residue on the surface. The rubber may look clean after application, but the residue interferes with grip and accelerates degradation.
• Water alone. It does no harm, but it does not remove grease either. Water dissolves surface dust and little more. As an emergency measure it is harmless; as a routine, inadequate.
• Baby oil, petroleum jelly, creams. These turn up in advice of dubious origin as a way of “rejuvenating” a rubber. What they do is deposit a greasy film that reduces friction — the opposite of what is wanted — and that is hard to remove completely afterwards.

For rubbers with a tacky topsheet — the Chinese rubbers described in 5.3 — the routine includes an additional step. After cleaning, it is worth applying an adhesive protective film that preserves the tackiness between sessions. The film does not clean, but it stops airborne dust settling on a surface that by its nature traps particles. Without that protection, a clean Hurricane loses perceptible grip within hours. European and Japanese tensor rubbers do not need a film — their grip does not depend on surface tackiness — though it does them no harm either.

Cleaning does not revive a dead rubber. Once the topsheet has lost its capacity to grip through chemical ageing or mechanical wear — the signs detailed in 13.7 — no cleaner gives back what the rubber no longer has. What regular cleaning achieves is more modest and more useful: keeping the rubber working as it should for as long as it has life left, and making sure the signs of real degradation are not mistaken for accumulated dirt.