Lyme Lyte started this discussion ·
Has anyone done anything drastic with their brass to make it more sticky....besides powder coating? I am willing to try ANYTHING! Tried all the normal things already.....and will powder coat, bit want to try all other options first, because it is so pretty and I paid extra for it.
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I'm having issues with my brass right now, too. I am convinced that when it's cold outside the brass is not sticky. It's great when the outside temp is above 75 but if not it can be as slippery as chrome. Steam cleaning helps a lot but not when it's too cold outside.
I will try dream cleaning it too...I do have the room up to about 72 a few hours prior. And now that I think of it, my legs grip fine....its just my hands.
I have the brushed brass Xpole and its a Bitch!! the only real time i have good stick is on humid days which are few and far between i am really dissapointed in it, i have heard that the polished brass is better but i believe my titanium is still the best all rounder . i too have tried steam cleaning among a lot of other things!!
It may be the winter climate. Even if your hose is warm you body can still be doing word things. Try it again in the spring and summer and see if you still struggle.
i played last night and thought about you lyme... since we seem to have the same issue... my house and heater was on 82 degrees and i didn't have an issue with the pole itself, but by then i was sweating and sliding.... there is no win win right now with this weather...
Wow, 82! I don't think I could get my huge room that warm w my space heater!
well it was only 60ish degrees outside in my area... being in the south it doesn't get too cold here... i had my central heat on 80
I am going to try a few more things, but will prob end up PC it!
Ladies I would give your poles more time if you haven't owned them for very long. It doesn't sound like it's had enough time to be conditioned. My brass is still pretty slippery since I've not used it enough to get it good and grippy. I've toyed with the idea of doing the X-Pole how to for shining up your original brass to make it a high shine finish, but then remember I should give it a chance first. Also if I could go back again and do it all over, I may not have had the chrome PC'ed. I jumped the gun before getting the pole conditioned fairly. Remember they do have a break in period.
I love my brass and I find it more reliably grippy than other finishes. But I do find it to be very sensitive to temperature. Turn a space heater directly on it before you use it (while you are warming up is great), as hot and as long as you can without feeling a sweat coming on. Also, respect that the pole needs time to warm up to practice just like you do. Start your training session with moves that don't require a lot of grip, like spins. Let that friction work its magic, and by the time you're ready for the more grip-dependent stuff it should be ready to support you.
Oh Pippi, I have tried the space heater as well. :( Even went out and bought a 3 foot tall one! I have set in next to my pole hours before using my pole.....even to the point my pole is HOT and I can't touch it! I tried warming it us just a little, turning it off when I practice, turning it on the whole practice....nothing seems to work. Mighty Grip is sending me some samples so we will see if we have any luck with that. I just so wish I would stick like a lot of you ladies say, becasue the pole is so pretty!!!!
Lyme, The only time I grip a Brass pole well is if my BODY is sweaty, so the skin has to be moist. Summer months only for me with brass. Heating the pole or grip aids do not help my body grip brass. If you've used a lot of grip aids you could try steam cleaning the pole if you haven't already.
I am new to brass and am finding it a bit slippery since the weather changed. It's still not as bad as my chrome, but I'm sure it has more to do with skin composition than the pole itself. It was super sticky not that long ago. I'm tempted to get a PC pole to use in the winter. Lol. I've heard TG is good for dry skin, which for me is a winter only problem.
Thanks Veena. Going to use the iron on it tomorrow. And thanks for that clarification. I have taken hot showers prior, but my big room tends to be cooler. It is hard to work up and keep a sweat in a room thats only about 70. I will see what I can do to keep the sweat coming. :)
another consideration is trying a brass polish to remove the oxidation. Even if you can't see the tranish, it is there. Tarnish builds up from the oils on your skin within a day or two of use. So it could help if you use something like brasso to remove tarnish and polish the pole. You'll have to give it a good soap and hot water bath after to remove all brasso residue which itself is slippery. Use a non-oily soap like Dawn dishwash soap.
Thanks, ME. I used Brasso followed by acetone and was grippy for a few min., then got slippery again. :(
:/ dang.
Lyme, I suggest using your copper and PC poles until the weather warmd up, then try the brass again. If you use it for a while then and it doesn't work for you, then you can go the PC route, but I wouldn't jump the gun yet until you know what it is like in different seasons.
Lyme, I have exactly the same problem! My two brass poles were very grippy in summer time, but certainly not now! I have therefore wrapped pieces of rubber tube from a bicycle on the top of one of them (just above my head). This is very, very grippy for your hands!! I can highly recommend using rubber directly on the top of the pole for exercises like Iron X. It is for hands only; it is too grippy for your body. I use the other pole normally, but with rubber gloves on for the first 10 minutes, then I take them off and my hands are pretty grippy for the next 20 minutes. I hope this will help you. Brass is grippy, but only in summer time.
I warm up. I wipe off dripping wetness. I put on tacky gloves, Pleaser boots (knee high), and stuff a clean terry hand towel in my shirt. I climb the pole to the top (fly paper due to tack of gloves and boots) and RUB the heck of the pole with the towel as I hold on. Once I reach the top, sit. RUB the heck of the pole. Slowly -slowly desent the pole, while doing so RUB the heck of the pole. Pole is warm, thighs are warm, but shoulders, arms only tired from rubbing, not holding due to tacky gloves. Due to my clammy hands I have not found a non powdered grip aid that I like to use. But I haven't used any in recent months. I also (usually) only use tacky gloves to climb cold pole to warm up. I just wipe with a clean cloth towel, but rub warmth into a pole with my terry towel. Everyone has a method. Hopefully this can be helpful to someone. I luv brass, perfer brass, but sometimes it's a luv/hate relationship.
OK, so today I did NOT warm up my pole. It was cold and it actually worked better! It could be because I have layers of Cramers spray on it....lol. But I have had Cramers sprayed on for a few weeks now. So, I am rather excited about the cold pole/grip today. However, I am getting some samples from Mighty Grip. Once I get them, I will be steam cleaning my pole and starting out from scratch again to see what works best. If I don't have much luck with that, I will go back to using my pole cold.....odd as that may seem. Thanks for all your suggestions!
YESSS, ANOTHER COLD POLE USER HAS ENTERED MY REALM! My army is growing, muwhahahah! *ahem* But seriously, I love cold poles. I wish they would stay cold :<
OK, so I am NOT crazy then.... :)
I used to only be able to stick when the pole was seriously warm, but my brass is best when it's cold! As long as I am fairly dry too - I find that's the best combination for me. So I'm with you, CapFeb (at least as far as brass is concerned!)
