-
Help me diagnose my slippery pole please!!
Here’s the history, my pole space is in the attic of my house and it is winter here. The attic is not hooked up to the HVAC. It gets super cold up there, and I usually heat it up when I am up there with a space heater and sometimes I have the help of passive solar heating. I have steamed it 3 times and I also use vinegar in addition to alcohol. It’s normally pretty sticky the first usage after the steaming, but it goes downhill fast after that. It has been worse in the winter when it was in a Zumba studio that was not heated very well (people were using it without my permission AND not cleaning it afterwards, ugh!) but still is not great. At all. I can’t hold an inside leg hang. Some days I just drop to the ground so fast I bump my head. Some days I slide slower but it’s still frustrating to not stay in place. I was hoping that I would just naturally develop a tighter grip with my body over time in response to a slippery pole. And I still might(hopefully). In the meantime I have been focusing on floorwork and handstands because working on new holds and aerial transitions is just dangerous at this point. But I would still like to figure this out. I have no problem with my hand grips, though. In the meantime, I stopped using fabric softener and conditioner, as I thought maybe it was a residue issue in relation to the cold weather. This only seems to happen when it is cold and the pole gets cold and goes through temperature changes. Could it be my skin? I don’t normally have dry skin, in fact I am super oily and haven’t noticed dry legs or anything. I try not to focus on the fact that I can’t do as much as I used to aerially but it is truly frustrating when you are used to steady progression and you backtrack so much. I can get maybe 1 or 2 transitions in if I am lucky.
-
11 Replies
-
As someone who lived in the cold midwest I feel your frustration!!!! I haven’t had grip issues with my SV pole yet, but I still use my x-poles too and the steam is the only way to get junk off the poles. I’ve found most pole cleaners make the poles slick :/. Also I don’t clean the pole with Alcohol or vinegar after steaming because sometimes it seem to make it slick, I just use steam.
Warm up really well….Once the pole is cleaned then your challenge will be to warm the pole (you could steam for that) and warm your body enough to grip. Cold skin doesn’t grip poles well. The Basic warm up in the lessons here was created to warm your pole and body, so you could try that.
Try grip aids…..I’m not a huge fan of grip aids unless you’re performing, but If you just can’t warm your legs or the pole enough. Try spraying Dew point on your legs, then add some Mighty grip on top. Then, I spray my hands with the Dew point, then grip the pole all over so it’s transferred to the pole, then add the Mighty grip to my hands and transfer that to the pole too. I had to do this today on my brass, it worked really well!!
Moisturize….Also try moisturizing with Lubriderm lotion a few hours before poling. Oh! Also for me, using regular cheap washcloths (washed and dried without fabric softener) work better for cleaning than microfiber cloth! Using microfiber seems to increase the greasy factor….I have no idea why that would be though. I’m sure others will have ideas too! Good luck!!!
-
I also feel your pain. I have a stainless steel Lil Mynx. When I bought it my pole instructor at the studio immediately told me to try to buy something else when I can afford it–I was a bit disappointed with that. I knew stainless would be more slippery than others and, like you, I thought I would eventually have a stronger grip and working on other poles would be that much easier. I don’t want to buy a different pole–I bought the Lil Mynx for several reasons and I love it (other than the slipperiness). I did okay in the summer but winter (in the Midwest) has been a challenge. My instructor told me it was going to get worse and naive as I was I wondered why because I keep the house plenty warm. Humidity! I cannot stay on to save my life. I’ve steamed it, used vinegar, used alcohol, etc.–no help. It’s a bit better warmed up but not enough. I have to use grip aid at least on my knees and thighs and sometimes hands. I have run the humidifier in my room for hours prior to working on the pole and it’s not enough. I’m considering a whole house humidifier. The studio I go to has brass Pole Danzer poles and I’ve never used grip aid there and don’t need it.
I mostly use Itac2 and some Mighty Grip. I tried a bit today with no success but I didn’t think to add Mighty Grip to it so I’ll try that next. Gorilla Gold did nothing for me. Liquid Grip didn’t help either and Dry Hands was okay but not really my issue (thighs and knees are my issue). I’m new to this so I don’t have tons of experience but I keep going back to Itac if I really want to get something done. I also realize grip aids will be different for everybody because all of our bodies and the conditions of our environments are different. I bought sample sizes and went from there. Good luck–I feel your frustration.
-
Grayeyes, Oh how I hate Stainless steal. lol Yeah legs are my slippery issue too. The Dew point WITH the Mighty grip works, neither work for me on their own. Some pple love SS so maybe you could sell it and by the SV pole if you love how the lil myxn works?
-
I’m in a cold climate and even if my house isn’t “cold” the air is still dry and of course colder than in the summer, which can make chrome (the only finish I’ve worked with and the only one I can have an opinion about, even though stainless steel is probably similar) a depressive experience :(. Last winter I felt I got nothing done on the pole because of constant slipping.
But, this year has so far been a lot better thanks to and candles :). I light about twenty small teacandles to keep the room and my body warmer. This only works if your room is quite small though, otherwise it will be expensive! ¨
then…be careful which formula you’re using. I didn’t know which of the three would be best so I ordered then all. The lightest one (yellow bottle) is doing what it should. I spray the body parts that need to grip and it’s working well. But I’ve noticed that if I use the medium or strong variant, it just gets slippery instead, almost like a lubrication. I’ve got moist skin that never needed lotions, for dry skin it could be different, but your skin is obviously not dry.
Since I film myself at most times I want to look at the clip immediately after in order to not repeat the same mistakes in vain, which means that I’m not active for a few minutes or so. Then I usually sweep a blanket around my body to keep some heat.
-
Thanks everyone, I feel a little less hopeless as it seems I have a few options, I currently only have mighty grip, which is usually helpful, but I just don’t want to dust it all over my legs, lol!! I never even thought about the dry air issue, so that’s a good one to explore. At some point I will probably break down and buy another pole as I have the space and I love dancing between two poles when I get the chance. I’m pretty sure my pole is stainless steel but it was gifted to me by my first instructor, so I can’t be positive. I definitely will take that into consideration when getting another pole. Not something I would have known to avoid before this thread. Thanks a million ladies!
-
I have my stainless pole in our finished basement which is always cold in the winter. I’ve been thinking about getting a pole warmer that I’ve seen advertised through this site. Maybe one of those would help your situation as well?…
-
I’m thinking more and more of how nice a powder grip pole would be up there, since I have the space and all. How does the powder grip do with clothing? Does it stick at all to clothes. That would be nice for winter poling in an attic. 🙂
-
Jacki, a powder coated pole doesn’t stick to clothing at all. 🙂
-
I have seen before, Veena which one would you recommend, since i notice that their was different types you can buy?? I have sweaty hands all the time. I usually wash them before I pole. But in the middle I get sweaty again. And I thought you were not suppose to lotion at all the days you pole?! Is that the only brand of lotion i can use on the days I pole, or would bath and body works too?! *love me some bath and body* 🙂
-
Dew point isn’t for sweaty hands, its to moisten try skin so don’t use it on your hands. Use Dry hands if you have sweaty hands. Way back in the day everyone just said no lotion ever, but really some need to use lotion if they have dry skin. Moist, warm (not sweaty) skin sticks better to poles. So using a non greasy lotion a few HOURS before poling can work great. Don’t use bath and body and don’t put lotion on right before tho. 🙂
-
Yay. Thanks for the clarification on the . And with the lotion, I’m one of those people. My skin takes a good beating during the winter 🙁 Darn, I
Log in to reply.