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Brass x-pole or a Powder coated?
My current(and first ever) pole is a 45mm x-pole chrome. I think it's ok, but I have a nickel allergy so eventually, as the coating wears down, the nickel will start to appear more and more. That has happened with the chrome poles at the studio where I took classes; can't use them anymore because I get terrible rashes. However, I can still use mine, just don't know for how long.
I am thinking of getting an x-pole brass or a powder coated. I've read that some people have had grip issues with the x-pole brass, but that it's just a matter of breaking it in and getting rid of all the oils used in machining . Iv'e read that cleaning with acetone will help.
The distributors of x-pole here in Sweden have recently powder coated(like the Lil' Mynx poles) an edition of x-poles in a pink color and sold them as "pink edition". I wanted to get one, but they sold out really quick and now they are telling me they won't be selling them again. Apparently a cost-issue. But they told me they could make one just for me.
But now I can't decide which one would be better for me. Which one offers a better grip? I know that both are good in grip, but which one is better for spins? I would like to be able to do spins, but also have a slightly better grip than chrome. I'm just not sure if I want the grippiest pole, so if there was something in between the chrome and a really grippy pole…
Which one is more prone to ripping the skin?(Iv'e read somewhere that powder coated poles are pretty good at that)
The pole studio where I live has a pink edition(powder coated) so I think I'm gonna go there and try it out, but I don't know anyone who has an x-pole brass, so I can't compare them. And it has to be x-pole, beacuse there aren't any other brands of brass poles here, and I'd rather not order from the US because of the shipping cost.
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29 Replies
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Sarahb69 use to have a brass pole…i can't pole on it at all. I have a great grip with my hands but can't hold myself at all with any part of my body. Same thing last years on the x-stage brass at the showcase. They had to cover me with itac so i could do anything. You have to know that the brass is plated too and some girls had a bad surprise after tryinjg a little of brasso on it.
As for the powdwer coat if you can try it, that would be good. Even if you can't buy one you can look to have your pole powder coated when nickel shart to show, would be less expensive than buying a new one. One of the girl here did and she have a beautiful purple pole now.
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Have you considered having your chrome pole powder coated??? There are a bunch of girls who have had this done recently. It's the MUCH cheaper option. Witchess had her chrome pole coated and JeHanne had her brass pole coated. They have pics of them on their profiles.
Brass is tricky business. If you have sticky skin when you exercise (meaning you sweat a little bit and get tacky from it), then brass will be too grippy. If you have dry skin, you will slide right off and need grip aids to stick to it. I've been in both boats and though neither are fun, it's easier to add grip than to take it off. Powder coated is also grippy. I feel like it is a tad grippier than brass, so you will run into the overgrip issue if you have tacky skin.
If you are a sweater, then I suggest looking into a stainless steel pole. X pole (at least the US branch) and Platinum Stages both sell them. Not sure if it ships to Sweden, but Platinum Stages just came out with a Euroean distribution site and website. I can say that I love their stainless steel poles when my skin has some tack. It is nice and slidy for spins, but I can still grip it with my body. If you are used to chrome and work well with it, stainless may not be too bad of a transition. Their one piece poles are awesome!!! http://www.platinumstages.co.uk/
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btw, if you have dry skin, stainless isn't a good option as you will stuggle endlessly to grab it (even with your hands), but, like I said, it is great if you have well moisturized skin.
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I have the brass x pole and I don't find the finish to be much like a regular brass pole you might encounter in a studio or elsewhere. The brass (and from what I understand the stainless as well) is a brushed finish and simply isn't as grippy as a polished brass pole. That said, I still think the brass xpole is the best option for a multi-piece 45mm brass. Xpole is adamant that the brass pole is solid brass, not plated, but what's the point if the finish doesn't give you what you want in a brass pole anyways? Maybe consider titanium gold. The titanium gold pieces on my pole ironically feel more like brass than the brass pieces due to the high polish.
That said, the brass xpole does get grippier as you tarnish it, warm it up, etc. I have found that in the week or so I've had mine up it has become much easier to use. I had a studio class last night with proper polished brass poles and the grip still doesn't compare, BUT working out so much on my slightly slippery pole has helped build my strength faster and it's very noticeable when using the grippy brass studio poles.
Some things I have tried to get my pole more grippy:
Acetone cleaner, EZ OFF oven cleaner, warming it with a clothes iron. The acetone cleaner did not make it more grippy, the EZ OFF tarnished it and made it much more grippy.
I hope this helps. If you want any pictures or additional first hand info about my experience with the brass xpole let me know.
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I have a LM powder coated pole and once the oils from producing wear off, it is super grippy. I have no problems with spins, but I went into an inverted crucifix and couldn’t hold it because of the pain. I have to start numbing up those thighs all over again.
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Along the lines of the titanium gold finish. X pole told me that it ALSO has nickle in the plating, though not as much as the chrome. If you react to the nickle in the chrome, you MIGHT react to it in the titanium as well, but that is not known until you try it. If it were me, I wouldn't run the risk, especially since you already know that you react to the chrome pole adversly.
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@SensualScimitar – I think its time to put this whole nickel rumour to rest. You are more likely to be hit by lightning than you are to have a reaction to the nickel in any pole's plating. These imaginary health risks that some pole companies are putting out there are simply FUD campaigns, and they are completely and utterly ridiculous.
You would know if you were that hypersensitive to nickel as it is contained in many, many, many every day objects.
If we are going to avoid metal allergies altogether, we need to be building poles out of gold, titanium and platinum. These metals are non-reactive with human biology.
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I realize it's rare to react, as I have a nickle allergy and I'm fine on a TG pole. The only reason I mentioned it with the TG is the original poster said she does reacts badly to the chrome x poles, therefore there is a possibility she could react the same way to a TG pole. I'm not trying to put others off from a TG pole, as it is a nice finish. It's just the circumstances of this post warrant a little caution since the poster has already broken out in a rash from the studio's poles.
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ElleML – Do you think it's possible that you might be reacting to a different part of the chrome composition??? There is another girl who reacted to the chrome on her pole, and she says it turned out she was allergic to cobalt…just a thought…
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One other note: x pole does note that stainless steel is best for those sensitive skin. You can see it at the bottom of the page where it talks about diameters and finishes: http://xpoleus.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_22&products_id=624
It looks like they aren't selling the stainless pole right now, though you could always call them and see if they will be offering it again.
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@ElleML – What brand of poles do you have in your studio. It's highly unusual for chrome to "wear" under normal use and when it does it will generally crack or peel. If the poles are experience where they most likely have some other type of coating that is less robust and experiencing wear.
To SensualScimitar's point, there are alot of other variables. In a studio environment you have cleaning chemicals, grip aids and lotions to contend with. These will often create issues before a metal allergy would.
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Yeah, you might want to find out what cleaner your studio uses. Beats buying a whole new pole.
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Webmaster:
We have x-poles in our studio. And maybe I should have put it in another way.. I didn't mean that it actually wears off, I just mean that as the poles get more "worn in" and have been used a lot, the nickel starts to appear more(and not visibly of course).
The reason I know this is because I have nickel tested my own chrome pole at home, the x-pole chrome poles at the studio, and the x-pole titanium gold at the studio. It's a chemo nickel spot test that I bought at a pharmacy. It's for testing if metal objects contain nickel. And the result was:
-It did not discover nickel on my chrome pole at home(which haven't been used very long)
-It did discover nickel on both the titanium gold and the chromes at the studio.
I have not heard "nickel rumours" from any pole company. Iv'e come to this conclusion by this nickel test, by discussing with other polers and I also know that I am that hypersensitive to nickel, which I have known since I was 8 years old.
And sure, it can be chrome allergy to, Iv'e read about that, but that doesn't rule out that the x-poles do contain nickel and that I am allergic to it. Also, I use the exact same cleaners and body grip products at home, that we use in the studio. So it's not that, it's the poles.
So I'd like to think of it as more of a FACT than a rumor…
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@ElleML – I apologize for the response. I have to be honest that I fell prey to one of the cardinal sins of Forums in that I didn't read the initial post.
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ElleML – Are there any other studios around you that have stainless and brass poles that you could test?
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