Table Tennis Glue

So, if you've followed my recommendation and bought a customised racket (part one) rather than a ready-made racket, and you've chosen your table tennis blade (part two) and table tennis rubbers (part three) to suit your style of play, you now need to know how to affix your rubbers onto your blade ...

Some manufacturers will offer to affix the rubbers onto the blade for you, but they'll probably charge you for this. It's much easier to do it yourself.

There are two ways you can affix your rubbers onto your blade - by using quick glue sheets or table tennis glue.

You can buy table tennis equipment from this supplier

Since the 1980s, table tennis players have been experimenting with different types of table tennis glue to affix their rubbers to their table tennis blade.

It was discovered that certain types of glue had the effect of increasing the speed of the table tennis rubber if the player re-glued the rubber at frequent intervals.

This gave the attacking / offensive player a distinct advantage and gradually led to the development of "speed glue".

However, this type of glue contained compounds which gave it a distinctive odour and it was considered harmful to a players' health.

Therefore the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) amended the rules and banned certain types of table tennis glue.

Because manufacturers continued to develop alternative glues which the ITTF still considered harmful, on the 25 May 2007 they met once again to discuss the use of speed glue.

With effect from May 2007, glues containing harmful volatile compounds (VOCs) are no longer approved by the ITTF. This includes glues with organic and inorganic volatile compounds excluding water.

The use of water-based glues, free of harmful volatile compounds, are now preferred.

The ITTF have asked all manufacturers and suppliers to publish lists of glues that are free of harmful volatile compounds.

All previous ITTF approvals of table tennis glues were withdrawn and the ITTF no longer approves any type of glue.

The ITTF also began glue testing with effect from 1 September 2008, i.e. after the Olympic Games.

Read the new rules on VOC free glue here.

There are now two ways that you can affix your rubbers onto your blade - by using quick glue sheets or water-based table tennis glue.

1. Quick glue sheets

Quick glue sheets are 0.05mm thick transparent sheets which have two adhesive sides.

They enable you to quickly and easily affix your rubbers to your blade, but do not seem to be very popular with players.

2. Water-based table tennis glue

There are two types of water-based glue - regular and speed.

For most players, regular glue is all you need. You glue your rubbers onto your blade and then you only need to use the glue again when you replace your rubbers.

I'd recommend...

Butterfly Free Chack glue which is completely free from organic solvents.

After a short drying period, it sticks the sponge and the blade surface together perfectly.

It's also very easy to remove the rubber from the blade and to peel off the remaining glue from the sponge when you change your rubbers.

Speed glue is more suitable for an advanced player who uses an attacking / offensive style of play, but it requires frequent re-gluing to maximise its' effect.

I'd recommend...

Butterfly Speed Optimizer One which meets the new ITTF standards for VOC free products.

Although some table tennis suppliers will offer to glue the rubbers onto the blade for you, they'll probably charge you for this.

I'd recommend getting an experienced player to glue them on for you, and show you how to do it properly at the same time.

You don't want to waste your money by doing it yourself and making a mistake - but don't be afraid to learn how to do it yourself - it's easy after a bit of practice!

Important reminder...

As we saw earlier, all table tennis rubbers must incorporate the ITTF logo to show that they are authorised rubbers.

Therefore, when you glue your rubbers onto your blade you'll need to make sure that the ITTF logo is clearly visible.