[ElleDorado]

P.S.P.S. OOooh now I see the cute video mentioned some posts earlier!! (duh, how did I miss that?!).

So nice! Veena even made a little movie about steam cleaning her pole! She’s the best!! 😀

[ElleDorado]

P.S. Once the pole is steam cleaned a couple of times, you can probably do with Windex or rubbing alcohol or even white vinager during your practices to keep it clean and sticky. At least this worked on my pole….

[ElleDorado]

Hello Cara and welcome here!

I encountered exactly the same problem with my X-pole (couldn’t stick to it if my life depended on it).
So I asked the same question here and Veena’s advice was to first of all really do a thourough warm up, because cold skin doesn’t stick as well.

AND, she came up with this:

“When I lived in the Midwest I steamed my pole every time I would dance in the colder months. I have heard an iron set to steam works. ”

So I tried this with a normal iron. This was the result (now quoting myself from another topic):

“Just wanted to let you guys know that the steam cleaning tip that Veena mentioned turned out to be a succes!! That, plus her tip to warm up longer/better (something that we tend to ‘forget’ when poling at home.) 😉

So I did my warm-up, plus I used a steaming iron (just a regular iron on maximum heat) to clean my X-pole. I just used the steam coming out of the iron, condensing on the pole and a dry towel, wiping it up and down. Also washed my hands thoroughly before I touched my pole again and immediately, my spins were much better!

I still use shaving gel to make my legs stick (I have a very dry skin) but I now also have grippy hands without having to put ‘gunk’ on them, which I personally do not like.”

As for the shaving gel: this is a tip I found on another pole forum somewhere. Just use the gel type (not foam) and rub a little dollop into the skin on the inside of the legs, the kneepits or wherever you need grip. However: wash your hands after you do this, because it somehow doesn’t work on the hands.

You’ll notice you’ll stick to the pole like glue when you climb up. Works like a charm, it’s inexpensive and it smells nice as well. 😉 . Just don’t use too much and let it ‘dry up’a bit before you hit the pole.

Good luck and happy poling!!

[ElleDorado]

I realize I might sound like an old fart here, but I recently did a routine on ‘Father Figure’ by George Michael. A song with a very nice, sultry, pulsing pace and ofcourse Georges sexy voice. The lyrics are quite dramatic as well. At 5:38, this song is quite lengthy, but if you squeeze in some sexy floorwork (like I did as well), it’s actually not that exhausting.

By the way: many thanks again to Veena, who gave me soms great tips on home-pole cleaning, which made it possible to write and practice this routine at home and… successfully execute it in front of all my classmates and my pole teacher! 😀

[ElleDorado]

Whatever works!
Try it and you’ll see! 😉

[ElleDorado]

Hmm.. that would be ‘turned’ and ‘plus’ instead of tuned and pus! LOL

[ElleDorado]

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to let you guys know that the steam cleaning tip that Veena mentioned tuned out to be a succes!! That, pus her tip to warm up longer/better (something that we tend to ‘forget’ when poling at home.) 😉

So I did my warm-up, plus I used a steaming iron (just a regular iron on maximum heat) to clean my X-pole. I just used the steam coming out of the iron, condensing on the pole and a dry towel, wiping it up and down. Also washed my hands thoroughly before I touched my pole again and immediately, my spins were much better!

I still use shaving gel to make my legs stick (I have a very dry skin – see my post above) but I now also have grippy hands without having to put ‘gunk’ on them, which I personally do not like.

I’m so, so happy to finally be able to practice at home, getting stuff DONE for a change!!!!!!
Really, you can’t even imagine… 😀

Love and many thanks Veena! You’re the best and I love your online lessons as well!
(and now I can actually execute them as well at home)

xx Leo

P.S. I hope this helps others as well who have trouble sticking to their X-poles.

[ElleDorado]

Perhaps a stupid question, but how do you steam clean a pole??
Perhaps with the same appliance used to strip wallpaper off the wall?? Or can a normal iron be used?

[ElleDorado]

Hey Pole Sisters!

Sadly, it’s the same here… I have been poling in a studio since March of 2012 and I have a chrome X-pole Xpert at home and, but I rarely use it, all because I have no grip at all!!! I so do understand your frustration and it’s kind of a relief that I’m not the only one having these problems, but still…

I agree that I too, tend to (partly) skip my warm-up at home, but even if I do, my hand still slide down and I can’even hold a simple butterly! GGGrr!
For grippy legs, I do have a great tip, especially for those with dry skin, such as myself: I always apply some shaving cream on my legs (just rubbing it in), about 15 minutes before I start poling and it works like a charm! The brand doesn’t matter, but shaving GEL works better then foam. Plus it smells nice and is inexpensive. Doesn’t work on the hands though… 🙁 🙁

Now, back to the slippery pole: we used to have chrome X-poles in the studio and I never had slippery issues there (as long as I used my shaving foam). Now, some weeks ago, they changed them for stainless steel poles and these also work great for me, even when they were brand new and not ‘broken in’ yet!! So I totally don’t get it.

Already tried cleaning mine with the following:
– Window cleaner/ Glassex
– Alcohol (blue spirit)
– Dasty (some brand of nasty super de-greaser, I even clean the wheels on my car with it, but as for the X-pole… #fail)
– Spraying it with hair spray (seemed like it worked, until after 10 minutes the thin film came off and now it’s all gunky)
– Heating it up with a blow dryer before I started poling (very tedious and didn’t work but I probably didn’t so it well enough, but hey!)
– Vinager (this was hopeful and worked a little, but I probably should repeat this treatment several times, because I believe in the power of vinager)

So …. any other suggestions? I really hope to solve this problem, because I’m ready to trade this #@%& pole for another,… if I only knew that would work for sure.

Thanks and happy poling!
Leo, the Netherlands