Tear Mender Vs. VOC free glues

We all know that the major table tennis companies are out to fleece the non-sponsored table tennis player (esp., Butterfly).  Outrageous prices for shoes,  rubber, clothing, boosters, and glues.  Most players are finding cheaper more economical alternatives.  most notably lamp oil/parafin oil  for boosting and tear mender for glue.  I feel it has come to a point where somethings can't truly be substituted.  It would be naive to believe that most companies put a lot of resources into researching boosters, rubbers and glues just to create something you can just find on the shelf.  Its that little extra that makes the difference.  Case and point, 'tear mender '.  I recently start using tear mender instead of the typical VOC free glues on the market.  It has a great premise, cheap, non-toxic, and removal is relatively easy.  The problem is playability, I noticed in a tournament recently I wasn't getting a lot of rotation/rebound that I typically would using VOC free glues.  My racket tended to have a harder feel.  Is possible that there is different type of rubber compound added the VOC free glues to create this difference.  I feel that tear mender is great idea, but playing at a +2200 level I have noticed its flaws.  Interested to get feedback from the table tennis community.

tokold wrote: The problem is playability, I noticed in a tournament recently I wasn't getting a lot of rotation/rebound that I typically would using VOC free glues.  My racket tended to have a harder feel.  Is possible that there is different type of rubber compound added the VOC free glues to create this difference.  I feel that tear mender is great idea, but playing at a +2200 level I have noticed its flaws.  Interested to get feedback from the table tennis community.

razortt wrote: From experience, TM is much thicker than Butterfly and Joola voc glue.

Edited by tokold - 09/27/2010 at 12:13pm

If you shake the bottle of Tear Mender you can find some that have thickened.  You want to make sure it hasn't thickened when you purchase it.  I have seen some bottles so thick it had turned to a solid.  Apparently over time the ammonia evaporates, through the plastic bottles.

debraj wrote: Tearmendor, being VOC free, doesn't affect the property. So if you are upset about less spin and spin probably you had been knowingly/unknowingly using some glue that does... like rubber cement. Also Tearmender is a latex based adhesive, you can see the caution section on pack that mentions latex allergy if touches skin for those allergic to latex. It is debateable if its takes 2200 or 2450 or 1835 to understand whether a glue is affecting a rubber or not but here's why i prefer tearmender to other glues: 1. it doesn't change rubber property (so game doesn't deteriorate after an hour or 2) unlike rubber cement 2. it is easy to peel off without damaging sponge or wood, unlike free chack 3. it is easy to apply uniformly (i prefer diluting with 40% clean/distilled water) 4. it ia cheap and easily available 5. it has very good bond strength even with thin layers 6. it passes Enez test 7. it comes off hands pretty easily, even if it touches the topsheet, doesn't affect the topsheet 8. it has a nice cylindrical bottle which can be used as roller 9. it is not from a table tennis manufacturer, and hence to premium price and branding

Hello.When gluing without diluting tear mender did you notice any differences on how the rubber plays?(spin, speed, throw...).Thanks in advance

tokold wrote: @BeaverMD I glued with tear mender about 5 days before the tourney which I'm comparing with the VOC free glues of Butterfly and Donic which I typically use.

I would agree that the quality of latex in TM might not be the same as in Haifu WSB, Finezip or other VOC free glues. The glue layer, if very stiff, might influence the sponge and the way the sponge responds. If you have a friend that you trust to glue your rubbers for you, do a blind test and have them glue on the rubbers of your blade with different adhesives on the fh and bh and you can see if you know what they used for either side .

Thanks Beaver,

@MMERKEL: that was a wicked suggestion, definitely worth a try.

Edited by spin_attack - 10/29/2010 at 1:25pm

I wonder if diluting the tear mender before use (debraj method) allows a thinner layer to be spread on the blade which minimizes the effect that Tokold has noticed? 

I also ended up with a kind of dead sheet once when I used too much Butterfly free chaque to glue and maybe didn't let it dry enough.  Very annoying given the price of a sheet of Tenergy!  I put my racket in a Yasaka "clickey" press overnight (but you could also use a heavy stack of books) and the problem was solved.