Genuinely new products don’t come along that often, so I was intrigued when I saw the new Joola Paddle Wipes in their brightly-colored packets. I’m someone who really values the stickiness of my paddle’s rubber, so keeping it clean is a priority. There are bottles and sprays that can help with that, but I never felt they were that convenient – including problems carrying them on airplanes.

So I tore open a wipe. It contained the little towelette you’d expect, and had a faint but pleasant scent. There was plenty of liquid in the towelette, enough to clean both sides of two rackets well. The rubber looked clean when I finished, and there weren’t any stray fibers left on the surface. The liquid also did its job without making me feel like I had chemicals I didn’t want on my fingers.

Then I had a little unexpected test. I keep my racket in a press, with the rubber covered by clear plastic sheets. The next time I took out the racket, the sheets adhered a bit to the rubber – I had to peel them off. That doesn’t usually happen. This apparent stickiness carried over to the table, where my Joola Explode Sensitive and Maxxx-P grabbed the ball nicely. Having my rubber freshened up was a nice plus.

I like these wipes, and it’s even a little neat to see new companies become attracted to table tennis (Diamond Wipes is Joola’s partner in the product). These wipes will do what you want, conveniently, and with no fuss or bother. If you give them a try, I suspect they’ll end up in your bag for years to come

About Carl Danner

As a former nationally ranked and rated player, Carl Danner offers a lot of insight into the game, especially when it comes to understanding the physical mechanics, movements, and techniques involved in becoming a better player. Formerly Director and Secretary of the US Table Tennis Association Foundation and USATT High Performance Committee Chair, he has published hundreds of coaching tips for USATT and JOOLA USA. Coach Carl Danner is a member of Indian Community Center Table Tennis.