Ultimate baby oil tuning / boosting guide (with pictures)

When I was researching this topic I found only fragmented and inconsistent information, so I decided to create an end to end guide based on my experience.

What you need: bottle of baby oil and (old) rubber. You want a baby oil whose main ingredient is mineral oil or paraffin oil (they are the same thing). I chose Johnson's baby oil, whose ingredients are paraffinum liquidum, isopropyl palmitate and perfume. A quick search suggests the isopropyl palmitate is a thickening agent, that makes cosmetics feel soft and loook shiny. That's not desirable for our application, the active ingredient is the "liquid paraffin". I'm wondering if some of the thickening agent can be filtered out using something like a paper coffee filter or charcoal filter. Nivea also makes a mineral oil based baby oil. Many of the other baby oils sold in stores are based on seed or fruit (vegetable) oil. You don't want those.

The rubber I used was a Friendship New 729-02 Sensor, 2.2mm and 45° hardness (I think that's European, not DHS). It's about 6 months old, used and tested on a few different blades. That caused the rubber to be concave on the sponge side or "curve the wrong way" like some people say.

First application: when I removed the rubber from the blade, the glue stayed on the rubber. I applied the oil directly over it. The oil bottle has a nozzle, when you tip it 2-3 drops fall without needing to squeeze or shake it. I spread the oil with my fingers, adding more as needed to cover the rubber entirely. I didn't want to overdo it so I apllied the thinnest layer possible, just enough to cover the entire surface. The oil was absorbed quickly, in less than 5 minutes. I let it dry face up for 24h. After 24h there was no visible change, the rubber was still concave on the sponge side.

Second application: after 24h, I applied a new layer. This time I applied the oil more generously, but still not more than you would a thick coat of glue, distributing it evenly. It took a little longer to be absorbed, around 10 minutes. Because the sponge was concave, it was pooling a bit in the middle while the edges had already dried. I redistributed it to keep it even. I let it face up to dry, and after 1h the rubber had already flattened. After 24h it still looked flat when lying down, but when held vertically in the air it showed a little dome on the sponge side.

Third application: after another 24h, I applied another layer, about as thin as the first one. That seemed to strengthen the dome a little bit, but not by much. 24h later the dome is small when the rubber is lying down, and more visible when held vertically. When bent, the rubber feels relatively hard and and springy. For the purpose of my experiment that is enough. After letting it air another 24h, I glued it back on the racket. It is visible that the rubber has expanded in size side to side. When pressed with the fingers, it does not feel any different than before. A bounce test suggests it is a little bouncier than before. I am comparing it with the rubber on the other side, which is identical but in 42° so normally bouncier. The tuned rubber now has the advantage.

I tested the tuned rubber in training for 30-40 minutes last night. I did not feel any change in trajectory or anything out of place. It spins the ball well. My forehand is pretty strong so it's hard to say if I felt a speed increase. It would have to be a considerable one to feel it. Overall I am happy with the results.

Conclusions:

- Thin layers don't seem to do much, next time I will apply thicker layers like #2 from the beginning. Two thick layers should be enough to give you a dome, a third one of varied thickness can be used optionally to achieve the desired result.
- The rubber behavior is pretty predictable based on the thickness of the oil layer, and most of the change happens in the first hour
- I would recommend one layer to anyone with a concave rubber to make it flat. It will be easier to glue and potentially giving you a tiny bit increase in performance.

Picture 1: Before #1 layer, the sponge is concave (edges raised in the air)
Picture 2: 24h after #2 layer the sponge is flat viewed from the side
Picture 3: 24h after #3 layer the sponge has a slight dome viewed from the side
Picture 4,5: the sponge shows a stronger dome when held vertically in the air
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Julian
 
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From my opinion (I tried such things like 10 years ago), it's useless. Rubber become more soft and springy but loses throw angle, become like chewing gum.
 
From my opinion (I tried such things like 10 years ago), it's useless. Rubber become more soft and springy but loses throw angle, become like chewing gum.
That's not my experience so far. The rubber feels springier but not softer. Also everything else being equal, a softer rubber should have higher throw not lower.

Julian
 
says Fair Play first
says Fair Play first
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[SIZE=+1]DOCUMENT DRAFT. INSTRUCTION FOR THE RACKET CONTROL PERSONNEL. ITTF PRO TOUR 2020-2021.[/SIZE]
The competitor whose rubber is found to contain a prohibited chemical stuff (chemical additives), could not be allowed for the award ceremony and he shall only gain ZERO points in all the matches he having played before.

/Be happy/

[size=+1]Alcohol is the evil[/size]
 
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I tested the tuned rubber in training for 30-40 minutes last night. I did not feel any change in trajectory or anything out of place. It spins the ball well. My forehand is pretty strong so it's hard to say if I felt any speed increase. It would have to be a considerable one to feel it. Overall I am happy with the results.

Julian
 
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Nice post. I had this one a while back
https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...rs-an-extremely-cheap-way-to-add-a-little-zip

its not a drastic change, but noticeable enough. Doesn’t change how the rubber plays, just livens it up a little. I haven’t used actual boosters but from what I understand the effect isn’t as pronounced as actual boosters but it does last longer. I’ve had a paddle with baby oil treatment maintain its zip for over a year, but I stored it in a tight case and covered the edges with edge protection to keep the paddle sealed (not aired)
 
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Appreciate the detailed instructions but what can this achieve that people can't with Falco booster? FTL is pretty cheap and accessible and lasts a long time.
Hi Vic, I think it is good for people to know what other options there are. Falco is not easily available everywhere and "cheap" is also relative. Some say that the effect of baby oil lasts longer, time will tell. The ingredients are also harmless whereas no one one really knows what Falco and others are made of.

Julian
 
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This is such a..... Hmmmmm.... I can do a propper video of re bosting dhs tg2 provincial.... I can use baby oil or seamon which I prefer...... Do you want it?
Sure that would be fun especially if you are able to compare the two on the same rubber. How do you like playing tacky rubber on the he BH?

Julian
 
Nice post. I had this one a while back
Thanks, I think I read that and it was one of the things that encouraged me to try it. I might try booster too at some point but happy so far with my experiment.

Julian
 
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Much better if it is mixed with paraffin. You need voc component for the better boosting effect. 100ml oil with 10 to 20ml paraffin.
Hi Yogi, I think you mean you need a volatile compound, not necessarily VOC which stands for volatile organic compound. I don't think the rubber cares if the gas it is filled with is organic or not.

Also what do you mean about paraffin? Baby oil is paraffin. Its main ingredient is "liquid paraffin".

Julian
 
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