How to take rubber off blade

Do I just tear it off or I have to use something to dissolve the glue first?
Since I'm a noob I just own a premade racket. I heard they use permanent glue for premades, so I can forget about upgrading my rubber unless I get a new blade, right? I heard premade racket's blade sucks so it prolly isn't worth replacing a rubber on it anyway...

Hi ZingyDNA,
     I have salvaged many premades for students. If you want to try, here is how to do it. You might end up with a good bat. If you try it, I would get two Lightning rubbers, about $5 each so no big loss. If it works, Lightning is a big step up from most premades.
     Peel the old rubbers off the blade. If it is permenant glue, alot of the sponge will stay on the blade.
     Lay the blade FLAT on a table, NOT the handle. Use the old rubber like sandpaper. Press and rub Hard and the rubber will remove the old sponge and the old glue. This will leave the wood smooth and like new.
     SEAL the blade with one coat of a good sealer like poly. One coat will be enough.
     There are many threads that will tell you how to put new rubbers on. I think it is worth trying. Good luck.

hehe so replacinig rubber for premade is still doable, huh?  The premade I have is a DHS 5 star 5002. It's actually pretty expensive among premades, ~$35 i think. But the rubbers on it are old ones, FH Hurricane 1 and BH PF4.
I was thinking to upgrade FH w/ Hurrcane 2 or 3 as it's hard to control. But some guy at our club says all those rubbers are too fast for me, and I should just go buy a $10~$15 premade w/ 1mm sponge to start with. And after that I can switch to the DHS 5002 or get a custom blade and rubber myself. Do you guy think what he said makes sense? 

No No No No No!!!!!
Most $10 to $15 premades will not make real spin.  You can get some inexpensive custom bats from places like Zeropong that will eat any premade. The rubber on most inexpensive premades is not even ITTF approved. Your blade with Lightning will be better than any inexpensive premade.
Most premades will hold you back from learning proper technique. They will not make spinny serves, they will not make good loops. They are good for blocking because they are not sensitive to spin but you will not learn about spin with them.
I would build your bat with Lightning and see what you think. Only cost you $10.  If not, get a custom for $30 or $35 from Zeropong if you really want to learn the game. Lightning is not a real fast rubber. Depends on your blade how fast the setup is. Most premade blades are not real fast.
I actually tell my students NOT to get an inexpensive premade or I will not coach them. It is useless to try and show the proper strokes when they have a bat that cannot do it.
By the way, Hurricane rubbers are not fast. They need to be speed glued to really perform.

Hookshot wrote: Hi THEMANFZ1,      You should have tried it with an old rubber. Yea, cant use a rubber that is crumbling to rub with. Next time you get a chance, try it and you will be amazed how much it will take off, even old glue!      If you are good with tools, sanders work but if the grain is not even, you can get low spots. When I sand one, I use a HARD sanding block so it does not dish it in soft spots. (THEMANFZ1 knows woodworking)

Yeah, your right about the low spots thats why I said a steady hand.  And I did forget to mention the block sanding part.  I sanded it to a thin layer of rubber with the oscillating sander then block sanded the rest. 

Hookshot wrote: Hi ZingyDNA,      I have salvaged many premades for students. If you want to try, here is how to do it. You might end up with a good bat. If you try it, I would get two Lightning rubbers, about $5 each so no big loss. If it works, Lightning is a big step up from most premades.      Peel the old rubbers off the blade. If it is permenant glue, alot of the sponge will stay on the blade.      Lay the blade FLAT on a table, NOT the handle. Use the old rubber like sandpaper. Press and rub Hard and the rubber will remove the old sponge and the old glue. This will leave the wood smooth and like new.      SEAL the blade with one coat of a good sealer like poly. One coat will be enough.      There are many threads that will tell you how to put new rubbers on. I think it is worth trying. Good luck.

Hey Hookshot,
What do you think of the lightning rubbers?  I use them on the backhand and for $5.00 I think they are great.  I find them to have a lower throw and be somewhat slow but, what do I know.  What do you think?

Hookshot wrote: No No No No No!!!!! Most $10 to $15 premades will not make real spin.  You can get some inexpensive custom bats from places like Zeropong that will eat any premade. The rubber on most inexpensive premades is not even ITTF approved. Your blade with Lightning will be better than any inexpensive premade. Most premades will hold you back from learning proper technique. They will not make spinny serves, they will not make good loops. They are good for blocking because they are not sensitive to spin but you will not learn about spin with them. I would build your bat with Lightning and see what you think. Only cost you $10.  If not, get a custom for $30 or $35 from Zeropong...

I think what you said about cheap premades makes sense and I won't buy one of those. You've talked me into getting a custom from zeropong and I won't try to replace the rubber on my current premade DHS 5002. That way I get to compare different rubbers and a new blade.

I looked at the stickie and there're threads on beginner's blade and rubber. People seem to agree to start with slower all wood blades. I like the custom LKT instinct for $35 on zeropong. They let me choose any 2 runbbers and they'll assemble it for free, so I'm tempted to get more expensive ones than the Lightning. But are they too fast/spinny for me? They say sponge of 2mm or more is too thick for beginners, so is 1.5mm too thin? What about 1.8?  Anyway, these are the rubbers they mentioned that's available on zeropong:

729 FX-EL, 729 Cream MRS, 729 Higher 3 (Japanese sponge), and Gamebler six shooter.

I'd appreciate any suggestions

By the way, you have to know the ratings for speed and spin are greatly exagerated by LKT. One rated 12/12/10, for speed/spin/control is only a relative set of numbers that apply to other LKT rubbers. I usually ignore the number for control, they just put up a number inverse to speed.
In Euro rubbers, one rated 8.5 might be faster than one rated 12 by LKT.