I have used paraffin oil, olive oil, and sunflower oil. 

Jun Mizutani complained about this; about factory tuned DHS and BTY rubbers 

Some say that it was the reason why Jun didn´t play for a few months..

 

They use the guise that it is a preservative/moisture used in the rubber to maintain for shelf/normal life ?

 

If that's the situation, why can't a player rejuvenate his rubber to extend/maintain its playing life ?

I have experimented with the Falco booster, and the effect was minimal. I suppose its a good way of extending the life of a rubber by a couple of months. I tried it on a three month old Tenergy 05. Like I said, I barely noticed a difference. Not that much faster, and not a significant improvement on spin. But the rubber felt somewhat rejuvenated. The sponge is supposed to get softer. Again, I barely noticed the difference.

Perhaps with other rubbers there will be more noticeable effects. 

 

I agree with you, Fulanodetal. Nobody really cares if you are playing on a non- ITTF sanctioned tournament or just playing for fun.

 

Now back to the original topic...I have tried baby oil, paraffin oil, falco long boost and lastly the haifu seamoon booster. i noticed that baby oil has a minimal effect, paraffin oil does not last long (few days only) and unstable, falco long boost last more than 1 month but absolutely not 2 months (as opposed to the manufacturer's advise) and not sure about the longevity of seamoon yet. I have just started using seamoon for few weeks so it is a bit early to conclude. I actually preferred the Seamoon compared to other mentioned. I like how the sponge thicken and because of this you can really see the obvious tension of the topsheet. Tension is more pronounce compared to ESN factory tensioned rubbers. Also I reckon it is the closest to the speed glue effect during those speed glue heydays as you can really feel the sudden increase of spin, speed and sound. Hope its effect can last consistently atleast for 3 weeks.

 

Baby oil is ok for euro/ jap rubbers but i reckon either falco or haifu booster is much better. The result is much profound and you can obtain the speed glue effect faster i.e. ready to use after 24 hours.

 

There is a massive jump of spin and speed on DHS H3 Prov specifically as sponge reacts very well to the booster. This was achieved for only 2 layers for the first time and 1 layer the next time the effect has diminished.

While in Omega IV Pro, sponge does not react that much and topsheet is a bit soft/flexible (compared to H3). I have tried boosting after 2 months from brand new. Probably you can achieve 100% of spin and speed when compared to a brand new sheet but may need more than 2 layers and much longer waiting time.

 

May I know what rubbers have you tried boosting? I have tried MArk V, tenergy, Donic F2, Acuda, Xiom Omega IV Pro, DHS H3, etc. But I have only experienced this bubbling on DHS H3 because probably this is my forehand rubber which is being battered most of the time. While the other euro/jap rubbers were on my backhand and most of them have an elastic topsheet that helps to neutralize the tension.

the fastest bubbles came from: Tuttle beijing 2, Haifu whale 2 black sponge, Gambler outlaw, then other chinese rubbers

German: Xiom Vega Europe bubled quickly 

the others took longer to bubble or tear/damage to sponge or topseet...can't give you a list since i must have tuned over 50 different rubbers

 

I reckon they must have over tuned their tenergy. tenergy has an elastic topsheet which can help neutralize/ease the tension caused by the booster. As oposed to lots of chinese rubber (like DHS H3)which has a tougher topsheet that keeps on resisting to the expansion of the sponge which in return creates a lot of tension to the rubber.

 

I reckon 1 to 2 thin layer is enough for tenergy after the factory tension is almost gone. Have done this to 2 used tenergy sheet of a friend and have not heard any problem from him yet after some months.

yes...tuned tenergy is only good for about 4 weeks for me but you can use longer if you don't mind some dead spots and loss of spin

i tried  a lot of different layer combinations...

now i do about 2-3 initial ones and then one more after 3-4 weeks or so and this rubber gets moved to a back up blade

 

I reckon your method is ok either on chinese or euro/jap rubber.

Probably next time for the initial I will try 1 layer of falco long on the bare sponge and then apply 1 layer of glue and finally another layer on top of the glue. Also I will ready another back-up sheet whenever the other has almost lost its tension and then use these 2 rubbers one after the other sparingly. The point is that the rubbers got a sufficient time to rest (atleast a month) and shrink to their almost original form. Will see if these method will extend the life of the rubber.

 

Beginning with that terrible bananna-smelling 3day tibhar tuner, I quickly learned that other tuners added speed but no spin and they were terrible on control.

 

I don't use anything and haven't in years, but if I was going to, parifin oil is the best choice.  I still have some old tuner too.  Sometimes people used to pay me to tune their rubbers but I haven't been asked in years.

 

Yes, there is a double standard with factories being allowed to tune rubber.  Remember the rule is that players can't do anything to chance the factory play of a rubber.  This doesn't mean factories can't do it.  Also, factories (I think) tune the sponge before attaching to the topsheet.  If you tune it after, you're stretching the topsheet which is illegal.

very true...the new boosters only add speed...not spin and control like the old speed glue...but the waikidi stuff adds a bit of spin and control on med to soft german sponges

yes...

take a brand new sheet of butterfly place it with the sponge on an old rubber and wait one day...you will see how the old sheet bubbles by sucking a liquid from the tenergy sponge

true of bluefire and many other sponges as well

The sponge will stretch or swell if paraffin oil is applied.  I have put paraffin oil on a sheet of T05 to stretch it out because it had shrunk over time.  Later that day I played with the T05 and it didn't seem any different from usual.    Paraffin oil dissipates rapidly.   I don't see why one would want a liquid in their sponge.  Liquids add weight and most don't compress much.  Unless the liquid quickly turns into a gas or evaporates it would be detrimental to play.

I do agree that the term boosting by the factory makes no sense.   If the rubber is pre-boosted then what happens when it shrinks or the boosting material evaporates?   The top sheet isn't going to expand.  If the sponge were expanding or contracting relative to the top sheet we would see the rubber curl or dome.  When I take a rubber out of the wrapper it is usually pretty flat.  There may be only a slight curve to it.  The real test would be to buy a rubber and take it out of the wrapper and let it sit just to see if its shape changes.  

 

 

Lack of moisture or drying out over time ages the rubber. The manufacturer adds a moisture preservative to make sure this doesn't happen too soon.  

I have been making the same arguments as above ^^. Even rubbers that tend are known to shrink, like tenergy or bluefire, really don't show the physical properties of something boosted by any commercial booster. It is immediately obvious that commercial rubber arrives in very STABLE state of physical properties. You can open it and lay it out on the table and nothing will happen to it. I don't know why but shrinking occurs once the rubber has been installed and removed.

Does anybody here believe that the factories first create the rubber, and THEN add liquid to 'boost' it? There is no way. They just create quality that cannot be reproduced by dipping your sponge into horse urine. 

 Paraffin oil is ridiculously volatile -- dont bother with it. Your rubber will play worse by the time you get to use it. 

Baby Oil is almost completely inert and nonreactive - don't bother with that either. The only change that is easy to observe after application is the extra weight.

Even if you start with a beat up rubber, no matter what 'booster' you apply, after the stretch effect expires you will be left with a WORSE rubber than the beat-up rubber you started with. Rubber that is stretched and held on to the paddle merely by the glue plays like crap. 

OK, I don't know the answer to this and haven't tested but:

A possibility could be that the new sheet has everything in it for boosting to take place except the water (or any other substance in the WBG (or RC)) for some reaction to occur.

I read in one post (that I can't locate) that to avoid shrinking of his Tenergies (on his blade), the poster first puts WBG on his new sheet and lets it lie for a few days. Perhaps, this shrinks his sheet before he puts it on his blade?

Regarding factory tuning: anyone who's used Bluefire and has Dandoy Bioboost at home can confirm that the stuff in the blue sponge smells exactly the same and they don't smell like anything else. There must be something to this.

 

Same here, I noticed that "phenomenon" as well. Brand new factory tensioned ESN rubbers seem to be flat out from the package until glued with water based glue to the blade. But when you peel the rubber from the blade I noticed that it has domed considerably. This doming effect is definitely the same when compared to factory boosted Chinese rubbers which are vacum packed.