Tack of the rubber gone

suds79 said:

I've never been all that impressed with any 729 rubbers in terms of tackyness longevity. I'm sure someone has a story that's different but I'm just going off of what I've experienced.

That's why I generally stick with H3. For me it has the best tackyness and tends to keep it longer.

Having said that, I for a long time struggled with being disappointed with how virtually every tacky rubber I've ever had is never as tacky say in week 2 as when you first pull it out of the package. While I use to be disappointed by this, I've now come to expect that to be normal and don't worry about it. For me personally, I still like the grip more on tacky rubbers even if some of the tack is worn off over euro rubbers in their style of grip. So it's good enough for me. Besides, you don't need your rubber to be play fly paper it to work well.

Click to expand...

Tinykin said:

He's talking about before the match start or at the end. As others have said, the rubbers need cleaning frequently. During some matches this can be on every change of serve.
Eg, have you noticed that even in a supposedly clean environment, a brand new ball becomes mucky after even one game? Now think about how much muck will be on the sweet spot of your bat. That's why, especially tacky, rubbers need some sort of clean frequently.

Click to expand...

UpSideDownCarl said:

I could leave this. I think TinyKin's answer is fine. Yogi's is fine as well.

Mineral content in water: this may depend on where you are and the mineral content in the water where you are. Your flag says Brazil but you said it is cold and the start of winter. So, as TinyKin pointed out, that would mean you are not in Brazil.

So here is the thing. Some places where there is a large mineral content in the water, the water could be problematic. But not most places.

And, if the water is problematic, then the chemicals in those cleaners should be more problematic. Because the chemicals and detergents in those cleaners definitely cause the rubber to oxidize faster which is usually a bigger issue than having mineral deposits on the topsheet because you did not wipe with the sponge properly.

In the end, you get to chose your own poison. Not cleaning and you are leaving dust on your topsheet causing you to think it has lost its tackiness (when it had not). Cleaning with TT cleaners cleans the rubbers and causes them to wear out quicker (not that much quicker, but a little faster). Water that does not have high mineral content is definitely the safest way to clean the rubber. But it is not perfect either. It also causes the topsheet to oxidize. It just does that exponentially slower than the cleaners TT companies sell. And if you are in a place where there are lots of minerals in the water (this is commonly called "Hard Water") then the mineral deposits could be an issue as well.

Choose which version of poison you want. If you are somewhere with hard water, you could use an inexpensive bottled/distilled water for cleaning the racket when you are not using moisture from your breath and the palm of your hand.

Clearly you were resistant to cleaning and wanted to think the rubber had lost its tackiness. When I got very very specific about how to clean and how much to clean, you discovered that your rubber had not lost its tackiness but was, in fact, dirty.

Now that you have more information, you get to decide what version of cleaning you want to use on your rubber. Or, if you want to go back to leaving the topsheet dirty so it has no tack.

Click to expand...

UpSideDownCarl said:

There is a thread on this. Maybe two.

If you go to the top and click on your profile, and then click on "General Settings" and then, when it brings you to "General Settings" you click on the link on the left side that says: "Edit Profile", you can change them. But not just by clicking your profile.

I am given to understand that the update to the site that has been in process for several months is almost ready.

Click to expand...

yogi_bear said:

If the op is so concerned about water and its content, he can just use distilled water.

Click to expand...

Der_Echte said:

Don't Drink the Water.

View attachment 22657

Click to expand...

UpSideDownCarl said:

The good news is, the part where your index finger contacts the rubber is not the part where you contact the ball. All rubbers lose their grip (or tack) on the part where your fingers press the rubber. That part is being constantly rubbed and pressed by your fingers. So it is probably more that than the sweat since it happens to people who sweat a lot and people who don't sweat much at all in their hands. I rarely feel sweat on my fingers. But where my fingers contact the rubber wears out faster as well.

Click to expand...