What rubber is this?

[Egon]

It is also necessary to treat the topshit with Vaseline oil. This works well for old dry rubber.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Another interesting observation is that it seems the booster stays higher on the surface of the sponge and doesn't sink in readily.

Is that because the sponge is old?

 

[TensorBackhand]

After a few days, the rubber finally uncurled and I glued it onto a racket so I can test it soon.

Just by bouncing it though...I'm somewhat optimistic. It does seem softer and somewhat more elastic. So maybe this time it will be able to grab the ball and produce arc.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I finally got to test the 25 year old rubber after boosting. The speed is medium.

The booster actually did seem to restore the rubber elasticity maybe 80% of the way. I was able to hit some pretty good loops. The throw angle seems better, and the arc seems better.

It still seems like it doesn't arc quite as much as you would expect a new rubber to. However, I did have the rubber on my least dwelly outer-carbon blade. Maybe testing the rubber on a flexier blade would help. Also I wonder if baby oil would help the rubber add some dwell time.