H3P tackiness

Hey guys! I just put my new H3 provincial blue sponge on my H301 blade, and when I peeled the protection sheet off, I did a tackiness test. For the first 30 seconds I was very surprised at how tacky it was. The ball would only bounce twice and get stuck and when I flip my racket, the ball stayed on the topsheet. But one minute later, when I found out that there was a little bit of dust on the topsheet, I breathed on it and wipe the rubber. Then, suddenly, I have no idea why the tackiness decreased! The ball would now bounce 4-5 times!!! (well the last 3 are micro bounces) I panicked and cut a piece of a magazine out and put it on the rubber. Pros plz help me is this normal??? And when I take off the magazine page will it be as tacky as it was before??? Thanks, Im having EJ anxiety right now lol.
 
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Don't get fixated on tackiness, just see how it plays. Tackiness in itself is not a desirable property, what are you gonna do in a rally if the ball sticks dead to your FH rubber? Possible explanation on the initial tackiness:
It's not ridiculously tacky. The vid where Wang Liqin holds the ball on his racket upside down is misleading. When you first use the rubber it will be similarly tacky but not because of the rubber characteristics, it's because of the adhesive they use when they wrap the rubber in plastic. Think of it as a piece of duct tape, which when you unstick it leaves some of the glue on the surface. Still, if you press the ball into H3N fairly hard it should stick a little bit.
 
Don't get fixated on tackiness, just see how it plays. Tackiness in itself is not a desirable property, what are you gonna do in a rally if the ball sticks dead to your FH rubber? Possible explanation on the initial tackiness:

Thanks but I personally want as much tack on my rubber possible because I like to have as much spin and control as possible while maintaining speed. Also if I buy a adhesive rubber protector or resuse the one from the package will it be able to make the rubber stickier everytime I peel it off? Thanks :)
 
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This is interesting. Since when does plain water remove fats? Good luck with that then.
well people apply oil on their topsheet so who knows how that really works. All I know is it does work, I use sponge + water and the grip doesn't weaken whatsoever. I might use a tiny bit of a regular soap once a month or two. At least with water it costs you nothing and you're guaranteed the rubber isn't gonna get damaged by god-knows-what-chemicals they put in cleaning products.
 
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well people apply oil on their topsheet so who knows how that really works. All I know is it does work, I use sponge + water and the grip doesn't weaken whatsoever. I might use a tiny bit of a regular soap once a month or two. At least with water it costs you nothing and you're guaranteed the rubber isn't gonna get damaged by god-knows-what-chemicals they put in cleaning products.

Well, water deluted isopropyl-alcohol does the job too. One of my teammates uses this for his one and a half year old 729s. (He's been playing with 729 for more than 20 years now)

Personally a friend from China has brought me a cleaner called 'Reach rubber wash'. My inner EJ just couldn't resist.
[Emoji12]
It's said to increase the rubber's tackiness.
Well, I'm not so sure about that, but what i can say is it also did not loose its tackiness either. After 6 months [!!]
 
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just use table tennis rubber cleaner and sponge
or a wet sponge (water)
make sure you don't "scrub" the top sheet
you only need to clean off the dust on the top sheet, and let it air dry
the tackiness will come back

I think you need to find out why you getting so much dust, maybe you should sweep the floor too :)
 
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Tackiness decreases the energy and speed of the ball when struck by h3. Too much tackiness is bad.

Not if it is blue sponge :p

Its easier to get high speed kicks (gears) when I need it
Short game the hard topsheet and tackiness comes really handy
while attacking, the blue sponge comes into play and feels like a medium sponge rubber

I guess commercial H3 should of just came in softer sponge, or people must just boost the sponge
 
I mean too much tackiness like the ball can stick to the rubber surface fir 5 sec is not good that is why i prefer the semi tacky purple box h3 provincial. I am also using a hurricane 3 which is tacky in my other blade so i am into tacky rubbers but not the ones that has too much tackiness.
 
The tackiness supposedly comes from the microstructure of the rubber itself, don't be afraid to use water and maybe a sponge to clean it. More info here: https://thoughtsontabletennis.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/on-tacky-rubbers/

thanks for the information and I believe you. But the thing is, I have another sheet of H3C which i once cleaned with water and now it has lost ALL its tackiness?! But it still has lots of spin, somehow. So are you really sure that info is true?
 
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thanks for the information and I believe you. But the thing is, I have another sheet of H3C which i once cleaned with water and now it has lost ALL its tackiness?! But it still has lots of spin, somehow. So are you really sure that info is true?

having played with H3 most of my life, I never cleaned it with water
I use rubber cleaner to clean
the sponge that i use has 2 sides - one to clean and one to dry
and then leave it to airdry, then I use a plastic film (non sticky)
 
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Hey guys! I just put my new H3 provincial blue sponge on my H301 blade, and when I peeled the protection sheet off, I did a tackiness test. For the first 30 seconds I was very surprised at how tacky it was. The ball would only bounce twice and get stuck and when I flip my racket, the ball stayed on the topsheet. But one minute later, when I found out that there was a little bit of dust on the topsheet, I breathed on it and wipe the rubber. Then, suddenly, I have no idea why the tackiness decreased! The ball would now bounce 4-5 times!!! (well the last 3 are micro bounces) I panicked and cut a piece of a magazine out and put it on the rubber. Pros plz help me is this normal??? And when I take off the magazine page will it be as tacky as it was before??? Thanks, Im having EJ anxiety right now lol.

1) H3 is not a very tacky rubber comparatively. There are much tackier rubbers.

2) DHS tacky rubbers are EXTREMELY vulnerable to even slight moisture. All the tackiness will go away quickly and you got a brick. If your club is not well aired and/or if you live in a warm humid place, DHS tacky rubbers aren't for you. If you want the tackiest modern rubber that's, to an extent, moisture-resistant, order a 729 Battle II. There's also the 999, but it is an older, heavier, very slow rubber.

3) Yes you need to clean the rubber. But don't use any sponges or any shit like that. Tiny fibers from whatever you use to clean it with will adhere to the rubber and ultimately after a while you'll just be rubbing dirt and fibers from the sponge to the rubber and back.

To clean your tacky rubber, put 2 drops of water on the rubber and then rub it vigorously with the palm of your hand (very fast back-forth motions with your palm on the rubber, like when you rub your hands together for heat). This will cause bits of fiber and dirt to wad up into bigger clumps that will then be easier to remove (either wipe them off with the side of your hand or put another drop of water on and rub vigorously and fast again until the rubber is mostly dirt-free).

Touch the rubber with the back of your finger. Does it stick and make an 'ungluing' sound when you pull the finger off? Good. If not, it is still a bit too moist. Wipe it again with your hand.

Then put a non-adhesive plastic rubber protector on it and you're done. You can get those on ali-express for like 0.3 dollars each, but you also get them free whenever you order a rubber/blade on ali express. It is customary for most stores to gift you these. When you cover the rubber make sure it is entirely covered (the edges are important!) and without any air bubbles.

4) Another tip for tackier rubbers is to have 2 blades with tacky rubbers and let one rest with the protector sheet on for a few weeks as you use the other. Then switch and let the first one rest. This rebuilds the tackiness. I'm not exactly sure why, but from experience this works. Perhaps it's also to do with the humid environment of where I live.
So for example use one racket for a few weeks and then when you have a competition switch rackets and you'll have the spin of the gods again.
 
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