My handle smells bad! HELP 🤢

[kaisama]

Hello, I have somehow a funny issue to address and hope you can help me,

I barely had my blade for 14 months and can't stand the smell that keeps returning when I use it. I've used Clorox (disinfecting) wipes, wrapping the handle for several days, rinsing then washing it with dishwashing soap. It works for a few days, but the smells always keep coming back after use. I store my paddle in a butterfly case when I'm done, I notice the handle isn't particularly soaked with sweat when I put it away.

Am I the only one having this issue? (this is my first blade so I have no long term experience). Any tips on how to get rid of the smell ?

I would describe the odor as something similar to how feet would smell like after a long day of playing a tournament (slightly acidic).

Thanks in advance TT community!

 

[NetProphet]

Mix equal parts distilled white vinegar with water in a spray bottle.
A light spray and wipe after every use and in a few weeks you should hopefully have a normal smelling handle.
If you notice the wood drying out after use then the lightest wipe of Danish oil will again nourish the handle.
You can play your first match after applying with a few layers of thin mesh gauze (like this) wrapped on the handle.
It's so thin you don't lose any feeling and that's it.
Sometimes the oil seeps when it heats up from play so the gauze absorbs it. I only notice it the first time playing and after that it's good again.
I actually always play with 3-4 layers of this gauze on my handle now because it helps greatly with my sweaty hands!!

 

[ThePongCommenter]

I hope you realize that is your body odor and sweat that has been absorbed by the wood. This also means you likely have bad body odor so hopefully you are using deodorants and antiperspirants when you play.

Unless you disinfect and deodorize and then seal the handle, which will change the feeling of the grip on the handle, you're going to just have to limit how much sweat gets onto the handle. So, wristbands, and antiperspirant or chalk for your hands before playing.

 

[pong99]

Get some activated charcoal, the cheapest is product sold for use in aquarium filters. (Activated charcoal is commonly used in packets sold to deodorize shoes)

Stick your blade handle in a cup and fill with charcoal.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

wood has pores, if it is inside the pores... it won't be easy, since as pingcommentator said, your sweat has gone into the pores.

air dry it, or even when you finish playing, try and have wind blowing against it, it can be a fan or something like that

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

When you are home, taking the blade out of the case so the handle can dry in the air rather than it being stuck in a musty bag.

Also, it isn't necessarily just his body odor. Why sweat starts to smell worse is that, if it stays wet, doesn't dry, and stays that way for hours and hours, germs start growing in what ever the sweat is on. The smell is actually the germs growing in the moisture. So, the fabric of the armpits of your shirt, the socks inside your shoes, the insides of your shoes, if things like that have moisture and don't dry for hours, the smell becomes worse than just the smell of the sweat as it comes out of your body.

If your handle is damp and it is sitting in that case, those germs are going to keep growing on your sweat that has been absorbed by your handle as it is inside a racket case that won't let the handle dry.

Any of the recommendations for getting the smell to go away are a good start. But when home, leave your racket somewhere where it can dry out so the moisture in the handle does not continue to be a breeding ground for the germs that are causing that bad smell.

 

[kaisama]

I hope you realize that is your body odor and sweat that has been absorbed by the wood. This also means you likely have bad body odor so hopefully you are using deodorants and antiperspirants when you play.

Unless you disinfect and deodorize and then seal the handle, which will change the feeling of the grip on the handle, you're going to just have to limit how much sweat gets onto the handle. So, wristbands, and antiperspirant or chalk for your hands before playing.

Funny thing is I actually don’t sweat a lot from the body😅. When I do sweat though the odor isn’t strong. I am pretty afraid to smell bad in public as I have a sensitive sense of smell (hence the handle smell bothering me) and easily get thrown off by some people’s body odor.

 

[kaisama]

I will try activated charcoal and vinegar. Hopefully it does the trick. Will keep you guys updated.

Thank you all !!

 

[Tyce]

Baking soda is another great one at getting rid of smells. Scoop of baking soda, add just a tiny bit of water to make it into a paste and apply where needed.

 

[NetProphet]

Interesting to see all the pong experts in one thread 🤣

 

[Tyce]

Interesting to see all the pong experts in one thread 🤣

I have a cat... Gotta know how to get smells out of stuff

 

[d3nium]

I love the smell of a sweaty blade, it reminds me of all the great battles I've had with it,

 

[CallMeZaddy]

Funny thing is I actually don’t sweat a lot from the body😅. When I do sweat though the odor isn’t strong. I am pretty afraid to smell bad in public as I have a sensitive sense of smell (hence the handle smell bothering me) and easily get thrown off by some people’s body odor.

You don't have to sweat a lot to have bad body odor and you might just be anosmic to your own smell.

Do you have wet earwax? It's a marker of whether you have the ABCC11 gene which is linked to bad body odor. Most east asians do not have this gene and thus have dry earwax and don't really have a body odor, which is why you don't see deodorant as a thing in east Asian countries like Japan/Korea. Agree with the above commenters, you need to dry out your handle before putting it back in case. Would also recommend getting desiccants and leaving it in your paddle case.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Funny thing is I actually don’t sweat a lot from the body😅. When I do sweat though the odor isn’t strong. I am pretty afraid to smell bad in public as I have a sensitive sense of smell (hence the handle smell bothering me) and easily get thrown off by some people’s body odor.

It is still worth knowing that most intelligently designed TT handles are made with porous wood so that the wood of the handle will absorb the sweat from your hand. If you are playing for a few hours, even if you don't realize you are sweating, the handle is absorbing moisture from your hand.

If you weighed your blade before playing and after, the blade would weigh a little more after. If you really let your blade's handle dry out after playing, a few days later, the blade will weigh less. Water actually weighs more than people realize. A 16 oz bottle of water weighs 1lb. 1 gram of water = 1 ml of water. There are 236 ml in one cup of water. 1 ml = 0.03 oz. 3/100s of one oz not really that much for your handle to absorb over the course of a few hours of play.

The concept of moisture wicking fabric is that we don't even realize we are sweating because the fabric absorbs the moisture, pulls it away from our bodies and causes it to evaporate because of the pour structure of the fabric. Cotton does the first part well. But it holds the water longer than a lot of the fancy synthetic fabrics they make these days for sport. Your handle does the absorbing of moisture part well (as long as you don't seal your handle - part of why I hate the feel of handles that have been sealed).

The idea that the wood of your handle, porous as it is, the perfect kind of wood for absorbing moisture whether you realize it is happening or not, could absorb 1 or 2 ml of water (1 or 2 grams of water) without you realizing you were even sweating seems simple to me. That thing pro players do where they dry their palm off on the part of the table near the net and off to their BH side, that shows that player's hand had a little sweat on it. While playing, his handle was absorbing a decent amount of it. This happens to everyone. For some it is more prominent than others.

Once you have combated the smell that is currently there, make sure you let the handle dry out when you are not playing. You should not need to do more than leave it in the open air as long as it is not super humid where you live.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

It is still worth knowing that most intelligently designed TT handles are made with porous wood so that the wood of the handle will absorb the sweat from your hand. If you are playing for a few hours, even if you don't realize you are sweating, the handle is absorbing moisture from your hand.

If you weighed your blade before playing and after, the blade would weigh a little more after. If you really let your blade's handle dry out after playing, a few days later, the blade will weigh less. Water actually weighs more than people realize. A 16 oz bottle of water weighs 1lb. 1 gram of water = 1 ml of water. There are 236 ml in one cup of water. 1 ml = 0.03 oz. 3/100s of one oz not really that much for your handle to absorb over the course of a few hours of play.

The concept of moisture wicking fabric is that we don't even realize we are sweating because the fabric absorbs the moisture, pulls it away from our bodies and causes it to evaporate because of the pour structure of the fabric. Cotton does the first part well. But it holds the water longer than a lot of the fancy synthetic fabrics they make these days for sport. Your handle does the absorbing of moisture part well (as long as you don't seal your handle - part of why I hate the feel of handles that have been sealed).

The idea that the wood of your handle, porous as it is, the perfect kind of wood for absorbing moisture whether you realize it is happening or not, could absorb 1 or 2 ml of water (1 or 2 grams of water) without you realizing you were even sweating seems simple to me. That thing pro players do where they dry their palm off on the part of the table near the net and off to their BH side, that shows that player's hand had a little sweat on it. While playing, his handle was absorbing a decent amount of it. This happens to everyone. For some it is more prominent than others.

Once you have combated the smell that is currently there, make sure you let the handle dry out when you are not playing. You should not need to do more than leave it in the open air as long as it is not super humid where you live.

and due to all those moisture going into the blade, that is the main reason why blades required to be changed every month to 3 months in the semi pro - pro space.

 

[Jslick89]

It’s like I always say, so long as your wife is not complaining about it, it’s all good. Let it stink. Maybe will distract your opponent and you win a few extra points.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

for those that don't know, we also put silica gel packets in our racket cases

 

[Tinykin]

for those that don't know, we also put silica gel packets in our racket cases

Ej question; what is the best for absorbility yet leaves the handle dry.

 

[Tyce]

Terry cloth handle covers

 

[WingTT]

Nobody mentioned sealing the handle with Watco Danish Oil? Thats how I treat all my blade handles so that the sweat does not soak into it. The oil finish also retains the texture of the wood so it does not feel like plastic like when a polyurethane finish is used.