What do you do when your pole is too "grippy?"

catmoves2718 started this discussion · 5/17/2015

It's fairly warm and humid where I live (east Texas), and the room I have my pole in the room that HVAC forgot (there are vents, they just don't seem to do much). On days where it's warm, but not super hot, I find that my skin and the pole grip super well, which makes doing spins, drops, or anything where your skin slides against the pole horrible. I have tried loosening my grip and reducing skin contact, but sometimes even the slightest contact sticks. I've tried putting ice packs on my pole and skin to cool them off, cleaning the pole and my skin with alcohol frequently, but neither seem to help much. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this problem, does anyone have suggestions on how to deal with it? Thank you!

17 replies

Runemist34 · 5/17/2015
Hey Catmoves! So, I have a powder-coated pole, and in my home climate (very humid, quite warm in the summer), it gets super grippy. Like, I've come off the pole with my thighs burning like mad because of it! The best I can suggest for this is to work on other moves while your pole is super grippy- take advantage of the ridiculous grip to practice things you may not normally do when your pole is "iffy grip" status. If you have a spin mode, get that going because it's a great time to practice your spin mode! If not, you can still work on lots of other things. I even do climbing drills (my pole isn't tall enough to climb up more than once) where I just stick on and lift, and lower, lift, and lower. Sure does work! I know it can be really frustrating when the moves you're working on are all movement-oriented, though. I don't necessarily have a solution, I just decided to diversify and make sure I had a variety of moves to work on, whether my pole was crazy-grippy or not. ;)
catmoves2718 · 5/17/2015
Hi Runemist! Those are great suggestions. I should have mentioned in my original question, normally I just work on spin pole or things where the extra grip is helpful too. But, right now I am working on an instructor training program where I have to submit videos of myself teaching different moves, including a lot of beginner and intermediate level spins. Trying to show the proper points of contact and still actually get my body to move around the pole is either painful or nearly impossible. I'm hoping against hope there is some trick I don't know about. I may just contact them and ask if I can show myself teaching some of the spins with the pole on spin mode. As a complete side note, recently I was in Florida, and was told by the instructor at the studio I visited that they do spin pole all the time. I wonder if this is why.
Angie La · 5/17/2015
Try . They have several different formulas. Dew point makes skin that's not extremely dry a little greasy and that should make the pole less grippy. As hot and humid it is in Florida, I am surprised anybody finds the poles too grippy.
catmoves2718 · 5/17/2015
Thank you, Angie La! worked! I'd never thought to use it that way. Thanks again! Note to anyone else trying this, I started with the "medium" formula, but found it worked a little too well, so I tried the "light" and that worked like a charm.
JenLFG · 5/17/2015
Sometimes I had that problem when I had a powder coated pole, I say take advantage of the grip & work on tricks! The weather will change & you will be able to spin again :)
Tamarinda · 5/17/2015
This thread is making me want to toss my chrome out the window :(
catmoves2718 · 5/18/2015
Why, Tamarinda? My pole is chrome, I rarely had the "too grippy" problem when I lived in a drier climate, or when I lived in a house with descent AC. Personally, I've found that brass poles react to the weather even more. I've only danced on powder coated once. All of this is making me seriously consider getting a window AC unit for the room my pole is in, even though the house we live in has central AC.
Mike Burns · 5/18/2015
Call your friends and brag about it! But seriously, I would have to agree with the others here who've said that it's a great opportunity to work on "other" moves. I tend to get super sweaty and slip and slide down when I get really tired-out. I feel like I could keep going if I just had the grip. Maybe do some new stuff you don't normally consider working on because you fear losing grip? Or, work on some of the moves that really take a toll on your endurance.
catmoves2718 · 5/18/2015
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to respond. My problem is this: Working on something else is only a viable solution if (a) this condition is occasional, (b) you don't have something specific you need to work on or in my case make a video of. Also, in my house it's pretty much a May to October thing. The other catch is that while the pole is too grippy for things like spins, as soon as I start to sweat (which is pretty quickly in a hot humid room) my back and sides become dangerously slick, so working on anything where either of those comes into contact with the pole, even briefly, isn't safe either. Occasionally you can make lemon-aid, but sometimes, you need to address your lemon surplus. Thank you to Angie La for the suggestion of , which so far is working well. If anyone has similar solutions, I'd love to hear them.
Krista Bocko · 5/18/2015
My response was going to be 'apply lotion??' ;) lol. I totally get where you are coming from...I LOVE my grip from May-October but the rest if the year I have so much trouble with grip (winter plus dry skin). Of course, the downside of summer is sweat plus slipperiness. Those perfect weather pole days are way too elusive!!!
catmoves2718 · 5/18/2015
lol, Sparrow. is basically pole-safe lotion. :) I think normal lotion would be too slippery. If you have trouble with your winter grip, and you haven't already, you might try , it makes a big difference for me in the winter, and apparently in the summer too.
Lucca Valentine · 5/19/2015
Regarding your original post: some people find a mix of grip aids work best for them. Like on their legs and mighty grip on their side/waist/places that tend to get sweaty. Glad the is working well for you! this winter was my first winter poling and saved my life ;)
Phoenix Hunter · 5/19/2015
a couple of times I've had a problem with my brass pole being too grippy. mainly, too grippy on my body because Ive never had too much grip for my sweaty hands, ever. but yes. my body was sticking to the pole too much and was seriously tearing flesh. I sprayed a little bit of Dove body spray on my legs and it was perfect! I read that the main ingredient in was glycerin and I knew that my Dove body spray was pretty much fragrance, water, and a touch of glycerin. so I'm guessing would help with too much grippiness too. :)
Phoenix Hunter · 5/19/2015
oh,you already tried and it worked! haha! good! :) is your pole brass?
Tamarinda · 5/19/2015
You're having this problem with a chrome pole, I'm so jealous!!! I live in the south by the water so it's humid here. We have central AC downstairs and window units upstairs. My pole is upstairs. My pole sticks best in the winter when I don't have that window unit running. I've thought about bringing it downstairs but less privacy. I feel like the window units do drag in moisture and make it less sticky so maybe it would be a solution for you. I've also heard about people using humidifiers or dehumidifiers depending on their needs...
Phoenix Hunter · 5/19/2015
haha! yes, i never thought I would encounter a chrome pole that was too grippy until I poled at my friends house recently. she has a 2014 xpole chrome. we tried to pole on it during the winter and we could not stick to it at all. now that it is warmer, I find it to be REALLY grippy like my brass. not sure if it is the weather change or what. Also, she ran out of alcohol so we were using Vodka to clean the pole. I wonder if the Vodka also had some affect on the grippiness because I seriously fell in love with her pole. And I really disklike chrome.
catmoves2718 · 5/19/2015
I know having a super-grippy pole might sound great, but trust me, it's really not. The friction on my pole is sometimes so excessive that I get terrible pole burn, even on my hands, from almost any spin I try--even something as basic as fireman. Spins like the front hook spin with it's POC on the lower-thigh and upper-calf feel great as well. Also, I didn't realize how many moves involve sliding my body or hands against the pole until I started sticking like crazy. Superman? Thighs slide around and then down the pole. Apprentice to extended butterfly? Bottom hand slides down the pole a few inches. I can still execute these moves, but doing so is considerably more awkward than when the pole is less grippy. And since the room I'm in is also hot, my torso gets very sweaty and I have to keep it away from the pole unless I want to go from excessive friction to no friction at all. I don't understand the physics/chemistry of it, but in my experience there seems to be a certain range of humidity that results is a lot of friction between one's skin and chrome poles (brass poles as well, but my experience with them is more limited). Above or below that range, it seems like friction is lower (and hence poles less "grippy"). My guess is that humidity is not the single determining factor, the particular dancer's skin probably plays a role in this too, as well as, the temperature of the pole and the room. Most likely there is some sort of complex interaction between these variables (and possibly others) that put you over the edge from "wow, I'm really grippy today!" to "wow, this sucks." I'm happy though, Angie La gave me an immediate solution to the problem so I can keep working on what I need to do right now, and more long-term a friend offered to lend me a window AC unit she's not using. If nothing else the window unit should stop me from overheating every time I try to practice! :) Tamarinda, you might try adjusting your AC unit down if you can. I've read that if AC units are too powerful, they can cool down a room and switch off before they also get a chance to remove much humidity, so the room is cooler, but not substantially less humid. They might not be as effective as central AC, window AC units should decrease the humidity in a room.