Foxy Rei's Grip Aid Reviews

It's no secret around here I have issues with sweaty hands, and I know it's an issue with lots of others here (especially newbies) as well. I've done some experimenting with a lot of things to improve grip and/or combat sweaty hands, so I thought I'd share. Quick disclaimer: Everyone is different so different things will or won't work for different people. Try these for yourself and see if they work for you. Also keep in mind that as you become more experienced with pole and get more comfortable with moves, your hands will sweat less over time. So it's not generally recommended to become dependent on grip aids; use sparingly and try to learn to pole without using them! 👍 Also keep in mind I'm from Upstate New York, so it's rather humid here. Climate can greatly effect your grip - both hands and pole. http://www.studioveena.com/info/2009/05/19/the-temperamental-pole/ I'll try to start with the simple, around-the-house items then work towards actual grip products: Baby Powder Use: Rub on hands - try not to use too much. Theory: The powder will dry your hands, therefore improving grip. My experience: Not effective. 👎 Temporarily dried my hands, but my hands would continue to sweat and make a clumpy, wet, filmy mess all over my hands and pole. Candle Wax Use: Rub a candle stick on your pole Theory: A wax residue will be left on the pole, making it sticky. My experience: Very effective. 👍 My pole was extremely sticky and easy to grip, even when my hands were still sweaty. Great for practicing inverts and holds. *While effective, I found I didn't particularly like it. It was way too sticky - couldn't do spins. It was also rather difficult to clean the wax off my pole again. I had to use something more abrasive, like a scrubby, and washed my pole maybe 3 times before it all came off. Perhaps Windex would've worked better??? Washing Hands with Soap and Warm Water Use: Wash your hands periodically with soap and warm water during practice. Theory: Washes the sweat off your hands and the soap has a temporary drying effect, which wards off the sweat for a short amount of time. My experience: Rather effective. 🙂 From what I've heard, this method never claimed to be a cure-all, 100% sure thing to help with grip, so I'll say it's pretty good for its simplicity. It did wash off the sweat and keep my hands from sweating for a very short period of time, but drying my hands with a towel frequently was still necessary. I had to wash my hands maybe every 20 minutes or so when I was practicing. Rubbing Alcohol Use: Rub on your hands and/or pole. Theory: The alcohol cleans your hands and pole very well and dries quickly, making it easier to grip because all the oils and such have been broken down on your hands/pole. My experience: Rather effective. 🙂 It does leave your hands feeling dry and grippier because they're cleaner and not oily, but doesn't stop the sweat (common mistake - Roxy Pink had to correct me on this one. Thank you!) . Once your hands start sweating again, it can make a greasy film on your hands that transfers to the pole (depending on what kind of alcohol you get - Roxy also said make sure it only has water and isopropyl alcohol in it and it shouldn't leave a flim) *Rubbing alcohol can be purchased in a liquid form as well as in the form of wipes. Dry Hands - http://www.dryhands.com/ Use: Put a small amount on hands and rub hands together, let dry. Is in liquid form. Theory: See website for exact description. Dries your hands without being sticky or greasy. My experience: Effective. 👍 I loved this product when I first got it, but now with it being more hot and humid, it hasn't helped much at all for me. It does dry the hands, and it also isn't sticky or greasy just as they say. However, it didn't entirely stop the sweat for me, and once again, my hands would continue to sweat and make a lovely messy film all over my hands and pole. Cleans off fairly easily with warm, soapy water. *Less is best with this stuff. If you put on too much, one spin and it all comes off on the pole. Mighty Grip - http://www.mightygrip.com/ Use: Rub on hands. Theory: Is a powdery, chalk-like substance that's a thermoplastic. It's supposed to melt with your body heat and be tacky so you stick to the pole. My experience: Sorry to say it, but extremely ineffective. 👎 This is a favorite product by many pole dancers, so do please try it before you take my word for it! I found it to be just like baby powder - didn't do anything but temporarily dry my hands but came right off from sweating again before I even got to the pole. It never got a chance to work because I'd sweat it off! *Other things I've heard about this is that it's almost too sticky - feels like the skin will be ripped from your hands when doing spins, but great for inverts and holds. Also as a side-note: comes in a surprisingly tiny bottle, maybe only 2 inches long. Less is best, once again. Tite Grip - http://www.tite-grip.com/ Use: Rub on hands, let dry. Comes in liquid form. Theory: Is a hand (and foot!) antiperspirant - dries the hands and keeps them from sweating. My experience: my favorite product, Very Effective! 👍 It does exactly what it says it does - dries your hands and keeps them from sweating. I must mention though, that when I'm on the pole holding on for long periods of time (like holding a chopper for more than 5 seconds) my hands will sweat slightly; however, just a quick rub of the hands together and the sweat is gone again! Great stuff, and it's also long-lasting. *Very odd substance in that it smells like mint, but is bright orange in color (dries clear, doesn't stain clothes). Also works best when you wash your hands first. There are other products I have heard of but have not tried, such as rosins, resins, and chalks (like gymnastics chalk). I'd imagine that they would be similar to any of the powders I listed above, but I can't say for sure so don't hurt me! Joel, a.k.a. PoleDanceFan, did a video on YouTube reviewing a few grip aids: a rosin, a pine tar rag, and a resin stick. Here's a link to the video if you want to check it out and look into these products for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIHcb34GAv0 Another thing I have yet to try and perfect is wearing gloves. Gloves generally are either too grippy and slide off your hands when poling or don't provide enough grip so you slide off. I recently bought a pair of Nike general-use training gloves; very tight-fitting, fingerless, and have leather palms. The leather is too smooth, but I noticed the palm has the sections of the hands sown in it (outlines the palm, heel, etc.). So I took a pair of scissors and cut off the thumb (there was only half a finger, anyway), cut out the palm, and the heel of the hand sections. Improved the grip quite a bit, but now that there are holes in the gloves, the sweat gets through! Grrr... I've heard that fingerless golfing gloves work well, but haven't tried it. If anyone has an experience with a grip aid, feel free to post! Like I said, everyone is different so different things will work for different people. Good luck and happy poling! ~Foxy Rei