Everything about Pole Grip - Grip Aid Review & Giveaway (2023)
- Ash McKay
- Sep 15, 2023
- 17 min read
Updated: Sep 25, 2023
[Giveaway now closed]
Grip, grip, grip… We hear about it all the time in the studio, during classes, during competitions. Whether it’s a hot humid summer day, or a dry, cold winter morning, we’ve all encountered grip issues at some point.
Grip issues are generally the result of 3 different things: the skin is too slippery from sweat or oil (wet slip), the skin is too dry (dry slip), or lack of strength in the hands or other grip points.
Without a solid grip on the pole, achieving any move that takes your feet off the ground becomes a problem. If your goal is to climb to the top of the pole and you keep sliding down with every movement, you’re not going to get very far. If climbing can be a challenge, trying to train a move like an inverted butterfly on a day when your hands keep sliding down will be near impossible.
So what do we do about it? In this post, I’ll tackle the first two problems of wet slip and dry slip and how to solve them with Grip Aid. I’ll also briefly touch on strength training and other issues at the end.
I spent the last 5 months testing grip aids. Was it an excuse to buy a bunch of grip aids? Maybe... Did I learn some interesting things? I think so!
What is Grip Aid?
A grip aid is any product that helps you grip the pole better. Typically a grip aid is a liquid or spray that you apply to your hands or body, but they also come in waxes, chalks, and resins. You apply them to key grip points including hands, knee pits, and thighs depending on your needs.
You may hear some people refer to themselves as a “Summer Poler” or a “Winter Poler”, referring to the time of year where they experience the best grip for their skin type. If you have naturally dryer skin, you may find you have an easier time gripping in the summer, when the heat and sweat give you the dewiness you require to stick. If you tend to be a sweaty person, winter may be a better time for you, with cooler temperatures and indoor heating drying out the air and your skin.
Grip aids help combat sweatiness or overly dry skin to create the skin tension needed to grip the pole well. The goal is to have skin with light dewiness for the best pole grip. If you find yourself too dry after using a grip aid and now have dry slip problems, you may need to pull back on how much you're using or go for a lighter formula. “Extra strength” is not always the right solution for your personal needs.
There is a debate about whether or not grip aid is “cheating”. This post is not a discussion about that. I think grip aids are a useful tool that have helped me on my pole journey and each person can make that decision for themselves.
Considerations when reading
I’m just one person. Everybody is different and will have different needs and different reactions. There’s no one right grip for everyone. Living in Canada, my grip aid needs change throughout the year based on the weather. My grip needs will also be different from my pole mates with different skin types.
I like to refer to myself as a fall/spring poler. I have dry skin in winter, and I sweat a lot in the summer. The damp cool days of early fall and late spring work best for me.
I’ve done my best to consider this when writing my thoughts about the grip aids I’ve tried.
Table of Contents
For Sweaty & Oily Skin
The Light Antiperspirants
Dry Hands
X-Dry Sports Grip
Enviro Grip
Dancing Dust - Make me Dusty
Stong Antiperspirants
Tite Grip II
Non-Antiperspirant
Grip-iT
Household products
Alcohol Spray and Cloth
The Dish Soap Method
Pictured above: Bottles of Dry Hands grips aid, XDry Sports Grip, Enviro Grip, and Make Me Dusty by Dancing Dust
The Light Antiperspirants
Dry Hands
X Dry Sports
Enviro Grip
Make Me Duty by Dancing Dust (without shimmer)
Ingredients
This is not a complete list of ingredients; I’m just comparing some of the main ingredients and outlining the differences between brands. For a full ingredient list, check out the brands' respective websites.
Broad strokes - they’re very similar. They all use alcohol, Propylene Glycol, and Silicone as a base.
Enviro Grip and Dancing Dust both include fragrances in their grip.
For this formula, I only tested the glitter-free version of the Dancing Dust, but according to their ingredients list, the glitter version contains additional mica and fragrances.
Performance
While I found all these grips would leave a white, chalky residue on your skin, Dancing Dust was the lightest formula of the 4, leaving very little residue.
All of them performed comparably well. When picking one, I think it’ll come down to price, availability and personal preference.
I’ve used X Dry Sport in the past and found that for whatever reason - poor bottle design or product instability - I would never finish a bottle before it started to dry out. The liquid grip would turn into jelly-like goop that I couldn’t squeeze out of the bottle. When I tried adding water or alcohol to reactivate the formula, it would help for a little while before drying out again. While all the grip aids in this category dry out after a while, I found this brand, in particular, frustrating to deal with.
Pictured above: Ash's pale leg with 3 patches of grip aid applied to the skin. On the left, Dancing Dust's with the least white residue on the skin. In the middle Dry Hands with some white re. On the right, EnviroGrip with the most residue on the skin.
Price
To help you get the most bang for your buck and for comparison's sake, I’m going to compare the size and price of the small-sized bottle as well as the $/millilitre of each product. This won’t include shipping, as your mileage may vary. Prices listed on the brands' online shops may differ from what you find on Amazon or at your local pole studio.
If you're looking to avoid surprise shipping and handling charges your best bet is to look for a local seller or buy through your studio. You can also consider going in on an order with a few people to spread out the cost of shipping, as a number of these products ship from the EU and Australia.
Dry Hands - CAD $36.99 for a 29.50mL bottle. CAD $1.25 / millilitre
X Dry Sport - CAD $22.00 for a 50mL bottle. CAD $0.44 / millilitre
Enviro Grip - CAD $23.13 for a 60mL bottle. CAD $0.38 / millilitre
Dancing Dust - CAD $26.00 for an 80mL bottle. CAD $0.33 / millilitre
Pricing calculated 2023-07-24 based on the small-sized bottle.
Environmental
Enviro Grip gets bonus points for its biodegradable bottle and organic ingredients. It was created specifically for pole dancers by a pole dancer.
Dancing Dust’s FAQ says that their packaging is recyclable, reusable or biodegradable and their products are vegan and biodegradable.
Stong Antiperspirants
Tite Grip 2
Picture: Bottle of Tie Grip II for hands and feet
Ingredients
This is not a complete list of ingredients. I’m just comparing some of the main ingredients and outlining the differences between brands. For a full ingredient list, check out the brands' respective websites.
Like the light antiperspirants, Tite Grip contains alcohol and silicone, but it also includes cornstarch and other moisture-absorbing ingredients.
Performance
Tite Grip is meant to be a long-lasting hand and foot antiperspirant for those dealing with Hyperhidrosis.
It’s meant to be put on 30 - 60 minutes before your workout and claims to last for 3 - 6 hours.
I found Tite Grip useful with other grip aids during the sweatiest, most humid days of the year when regular grip just won't cut it.
Tite Grip won’t replace your normal grip aid. You may find you still need to use another one with it.
Picture: Ash's hand with a small amount of pink Tite grip on their finger tips.
Price
See my notes above about price comparison.
Tite Grip 2 - CAD $15.77 for a 59mL bottle. CAD $0.27 / millilitre
Tite Grip 2 (Amazon.ca Price) - CAD $39.80 for a 59mL bottle. CAD $0.67 / millilitre
I’ve listed a separate Amazon listing price because despite it looking like it costs more, buying one bottle directly from the Tite Grip USA website will cost you over $20 to ship to Canada.
Pricing calculated 2023-07-24 based on the small-sized bottle.
I still have the first bottle of Tite Grip that I bought over 2 years ago. A little really does go a long way with this one.
Important to Note
Something to keep in mind when using any of these antiperspirant formulas is that less is always better. It can be tempting to jump to the extra-strength formula when struggling with sweaty hands, but it’s important to remember that applying too much can leave your hands overly dry, leading to dry slip. We’re looking for dewiness to the skin, not to completely remove the moisture from our skin.
Non-Antiperspirant
Grip-iT
Picture: Bottle of Grip It Hand Gripping Spray
Ingredients
This is not a complete list of ingredients; I’m just comparing some of the main ingredients and outlining the differences between brands. For a full ingredient list, check out the brands' respective websites.
Grip-iT is a rosin grip spray, containing alcohol, pine rosin, aloe vera, tea tree oil, and jojoba oil.
Performance
It’s formulated to work best in sweaty or wet conditions. It can be applied once and reactivated with a little bit of water or alcohol spray.
I found Grip-iT to be really useful while conditioning static tricks that rely on my hands, like cartwheel mount.
It’s not ideal for doing any tricks that require sliding as it would cause my hand to stick where I placed them. It would also leave a residue on the pole and in between my fingers that can be difficult to clean off. I found I had to use alcohol spray and a good scrubbing with a towel to get it off the pole.
Pictured above is my home pole with residue from Grip-it. The top half of the pole is covered in Grip-it, and the bottom half is clean. It’s hard to see on my warn pole, but on a shiny new pole, it’s visually noticeable. Even if you can’t see it, you can feel the stickiness it leaves on the pole.
Price
See my notes above about price comparison.
Grip-iT - CAD $18.99 for a 30mL bottle. CAD $0.63 / millilitre
Pricing calculated 2023-06-30 based on the small-sized bottle.
Important to Note
Rosin-based formulas are banned at some competitions including PSO (2023 Update to their rules). They leave a sticky residue on the pole that can be difficult to clean.
Household products
Alcohol Spray and a cloth
Picture: Bottle of Alcohol spray and microfiber cloth on the floor in front of a stainless steel.
Good news! The alcohol spray and cloth can be used for more than just wiping down the pole. It can be used as a grip aid as well. You can use it to remove sweat and oil from your hands and body, like your knee pits and elbow pits. Like the other grip aids for sweaty skin, go easy because too much will dry out your skin.
The Dish Soap Method
Picture: Bottle of green Palmolive dish soap
This one is straightforward like the alcohol spray. Before class, wash your hands and grip points with a little dish soap - armpits, elbow pits, knee pits. Whatever you need. This will remove any excess sweat, oil or lotion from those key points. The reason for dish soap is that it doesn’t contain moisturizers like body wash or hand soap.
This may not be enough if you are someone who sweats a lot while exercising, but it may give you a head start, meaning you won’t need as much grip aid during class.
Performance
I found dish soap helped minimally during the humid summer. I would wash my hands and grip points with dish soap before leaving for class, but because it’s been such a humid summer, I was covered in sweat again even before starting the warm-up.
I have to leave it at that for now, but I can imagine that this works better during dryer times of the year, especially for those who are light perspire-ers or like to wear lotion.
For Dry Skin
Sprays
Dew Point
Make me Dewy by Dancing Dust (Formula L and Formula X)
Wax
Itac2
Lotion
Pole Physics
Household Products
The Shaving Cream Method
Sprays
Dew Point
Make Me Dewy by Dancing Dust(Formula L without Shimmer)
Make Me Dewy by Dancing Dust (Formula X with Shimmer)
Pictured left to right: 3 Bottles of Dew Point, A bottle of Make me Dewy by Dancing Dust, and a Sample size bottle of Make Me Dewy by Dancing Dust in blue shimmer.
Ingredients
Again, not comparing every ingredient, just the main ones. For a full ingredient list, check out the brands' websites.
They have a similar set of ingredients including Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, and Glycol.
The Dancing Dust with shimmer also has fragrance and mica.
Performance
All of these dry skin grip aids performed comparably well.
The Dew Point spray bottle has a better mist sprayer than the Dancing Dust bottle. Dew Point’s sprayer applies a more even misting, whereas the Dancing Dust sprays all of it on one concentrated spot.
Picture: On the left, a bottle of Dew Point. In front of it a sticky note the result of a spray test, showing a light speckling of grip spray. On the right, a bottle of Make Me Dewy. In front a sticky note showing a wet patch of grip spray.
I used these mostly for my leg grip, especially for the backs of my knees.
For dry skin grips, don't use your hands to rub the spray in. These grips contain glycerin, which is great for moisturizing dry skin but becomes slippery with you mix it with a little sweat. I recommend using the back of your hand, a towel or your other leg to rub it in.
Price
See my notes above about price comparison.
Dew Point - CAD $24.95 for a 133mL bottle. CAD $0.19 / millilitre
Dancing Dust: Dewy - Formula L - CAD $31 for a 100mL bottle. CAD $0.31 / millilitre
Dancing Dust: Dewy with Shimmer and Scent - CAD $33 for a 100mL bottle. CAD $0.33 / millilitre
Pricing calculated 2023-07-24 based on the small-sized bottle.
Important to Note
My only nitpick of the Dancing Dust was the French vanilla scent of the shimmer formula I received. I didn’t pick this one; I received it as a bonus sample in my order. I personally found the French vanilla scent overbearing for how little I sprayed. This may not be a problem with the other scents or if you like vanilla. I’m particular about scent and not a big fan of vanilla, but I would be willing to try the sample pack of other scents.
If you’re scent averse or workout in a scent-free gym, skip the scented formulas and stick to their Black Range. You can always buy their shimmer separately and add it to your grip if you want a little sparkle.
Wax
iTac2
Picture: Jar of iTac2 Regular Strength
Ingredients
Only two ingredients; Beeswax and Hydrocarbon. That’s it.
Performance
Works best on dry skin, but you can also use it directly on the pole.
I found it works well for a good stick when it’s cold, but it could be a problem when I start to sweat. When I get sweaty or too warm, the wax causes everything to become slippery.
iTac2 will smear onto the pole, which is fine if I’m doing static poses without transitions that require sliding against the pole. Of course, the problem again is if your hands are hot and sweaty and your pole is covered in iTac, the pole becomes a slip-N-slide.
Picture: A stainless steel pole with a smear of iTac grip applied to it.
iTac can also be difficult to clean off the pole if it gets cold. I found I had to give it repeated scrubbing with the cloth and alcohol. iTac offers a special pole cleaner spray, but I’ve never tried it. If you find it difficult to remove iTac from the pole, iTac’s cleaner spray may be worth a try.
Price
See my notes above about price comparison.
iTac Regular Strength - CAD $12.87 for a 20g container. CAD $0.64 / gram
iTac Regular Strength (Amazon.ca Pricing) - CAD $24.97 for a 20g container. CAD $1.25 / gram
Like the Tite Grip, buying one bottle directly from the iTac website will cost you over $25 to ship to Canada.
Pricing calculated 2023-07-24 based on the small-sized bottle.
The 45 g jar of iTac was one of the first grips I bought when I started pole. That jar has lasted me 3 years and I still have it.
Environmental
All natural, but not vegan as it contains beeswax.
Lotion
Pole Physics - Sensitiv+e
I tried the Sensitiv+e formula because I have sensitive skin, and I didn’t want to be biased by scents.
Picture: A bottle of Pole Physics Body Lotion, Sensitiv+e formula.
Ingredients
Again, not comparing every ingredient, just the main ones. For a full ingredient list, check out the brands' websites.
Alcohols, Triglyceride, Glycerin, Ginkgo Leaf Extract, Vitamin E, and Essential oils
Performance
It’s important to note that this is a lotion and not a grip aid in the same way the others on the list are. This performs best when used after taking a shower, 7-10 hours before dancing.
I actually really enjoyed this lotion during the winter. I have very dry skin, and I found this gave my body the moisture it needed without leaving me greasy like other lotions.
Price
See my notes above about price comparison.
Pole Physics - CAD $30.14 for a 200mL bottle. CAD $0.15 /millilitre
Pricing calculated 2023-07-24.
Bonus
Along with sensitive skin lotion, they have a pregnancy/baby-safe formula and a tattoo care formula.
Household Product
The Shaving Cream Method
Picture: A canister of Gillette Foamy Shaving Cream
This is another brilliant pole hack from our pole friends in Australia. Simply apply shaving cream to your grip points before poling. The shaving cream moisturizes and has a bit of stickiness when it drys. (If you’ve ever had to clean up a mess off of a bathroom counter you know what I'm talking about.) The best type of shaving cream is the foaming one.
This method doesn’t work for everyone. It will depend on how your skin reacts to shaving cream.
Performance
I missed out on my chance to try the shaving cream during my dry time of year. This summer has been a humid one, making the shaving cream less ideal for me because it would get gummy and slick when mixed with sweat. For the short time that I could test it, I found it did provide a small amount of tackiness to the skin.
It also made me smell like shaving cream, which I found strong, but it’s not the worst smell.
Possibly for Dry and Sweaty Skin types?
Mighty Grip - Special Formula
Picture: Bottle of Mighty Grip Special Formula
I didn’t know where to put this one after reading comments and reviews for Mighty Grip. Some people said it worked for their dry hands, and others said it worked for their sweaty hands. The only thing everyone can agree on is that it’s not ideal for overly sweaty hands.
Ingredients
Mighty Grip was the only one on the list that I couldn’t find an ingredient list for so I can’t compare it to the other products. The only ingredient listed on their website is thermoplastic wax. They also state that it doesn’t contain rosin or talc.
Performance
I did find Mighty Grip to be helpful when my hands were dry or only a little sweaty to provide a bit of extra tackiness to my hands. It works from the heat of your hand melting the thermoplastic, which is what provides that tackiness.
When my hands get too sweaty though, it would just melt right off my hand and end up smeared all over the pole.
Mighty Grip tended to leave a residue on the pole, which in colder weather wasn’t necessarily an issue, but in warm weather - like the i-Tac - turned the pole into a slip-N-slide.
Due to it being a powder in a bottle, I found it easy to spill all over the place and difficult to pour the wanted amount into my hand.
Picture: Ash's hand is speckled in Mighty gip powder and the table underneath their hand is also speckled in powdered grip powder.
Price
See my notes above about price comparison.
Mighty Grip doesn’t list a product volume or weight. According to Amazon’s listing, the product (including packaging) is 18 grams. I’m going to base my per-gram price on this number.
Mighty Grip - CAD $15.71 for an 18g bottle. CAD $0.87 / gram
Mighty Grip Special Formula - CAD $19.66 for an 18g bottle. CAD $1.09/ gram
Mighty Grip Special Formula (Amazon.ca Price) - CAD $24.95 or an 18g bottle. CAD $1.39/ gram
Like the others, buying one bottle directly from the Mighty Grips USA website will cost you over $50 to ship to Canada.
Pricing calculated 2023-07-24 based on the small-sized bottle.
The size of the bottle for how much you pay may not be worth the price. Not only that, but the pole dancer “special formula” is twice the price of the regular formula, and from reviews online, it seems these are identical products. If you’re going to try this one for yourself, skip the pole dance special formula and get the regular one.
Other Grip Products
Mighty Grip Gloves / Wrist Wraps
Pictured Left to Right: Mighty Grip Wrist and Thumb support Wrap, Mighty Grip Wrist Support Wrap, Mighty Grip Gloves
I’ve never tried the gloves, but I have seen positive reviews for them.
I’ve used the Mighty Grip wrist wraps before and they worked for the purpose I bought them. I was working on moves that were hard on my wrists and I wanted a little support so I could work on the move without fatiguing my wrists too quickly. My wrist strength has gotten a lot better over the years and I don’t feel the need to wear them as often. The grip on them is good, but due to them being wrist wraps, they only cover a small portion of my wrist and thumb. It wouldn't be sufficient to replace other hand grip solutions.
Sticky leggings
Picture Leggings are from Super Fly Honey.
I haven’t tried sticky leggings, but I’ve heard good things from those who have. From what my friend explained to me, it’s important to get a pair that fits really snugly. If the pair of leggings is too big, the extra fabric moves around too much. You might slide out or the leggings won't stay in place properly, making a good grip on the pole really hard. Thanks, Jess!
Other things that affect grip
Grip Strength
Picture: 3 donut-shaped hand grip strengthening trainers.
I struggled with my hand grip, (and frankly still do), so I’ve spent time working with grip strength trainers. I’ve noticed an improvement over the past year while using them regularly. Here’s a link to the ones I’ve used.
Cold Pole
Cold poles are hard to grip. It’s just a fact. The warmth and moisture from your body help create the friction needed to hold on to what is otherwise a smooth cylinder of metal… Sometimes, I take a step back and I have to ask myself, who thought this was a good idea? But I quickly forget that, because I love it.
You could get electric pole warmers. Yes, those are a thing.
Picture: X-Pole Electic Pole warmer
There’s also the less desirable, but far more practical option of doing pole climbs as conditioning at the beginning of every session. It will help warm up the pole and get that conditioning out of the way. However, try telling a group of people in a chilly Canadian Saturday morning class to strip off their warm clothes and do pole climbs. Yikes, that’s cold!
Don’t worry if you spend most of that time slipping down the pole while trying to do those first climbs; it’ll get easier as the pole warms up.
To Moisturize or to Not Moisturize! That is the question
The blanket advice is not to moisturize in the 24 hours leading up to class. That can be difficult if you are training or teaching most days of the week. This also isn’t helpful for people with dry skin as they need moisture to combat dry slip.
While I’ve reviewed a pole lotion that’s designed specifically with pole dancers in mind, there are other moisturizer options. You’ll want to look for glycerin or aloe lotions and avoid oil-based lotions. The Body Shop’s Body Yogurt and Gold Bond Healing Hydrating Lotion with Aloe both come highly recommended as alternatives. I like the Gold Bond lotion, but I would still avoid using it on my hands in the 24 hours before class, which is tricky if you're trying to apply it to your body. You can always ask a partner to apply lotion on you, too.
Wipe your pole down regularly
This is an obvious one, I think it’s one most of us learn on our first day in class, but I’ll say it anyway. Wipe down your pole with a cloth and a little alcohol spray. This will help remove sweat, oil, and any extra grip on the pole.
Conclusion
Well, during the course of my writing this post, both polepedia.com and polefitfreedom.com updated their own Ultimate Pole grip rank and review pages. They’ve been able to review far more brands than I’m able to on my own. I also covered a few things here that I didn’t see on their list. Head on over and give them a read; they have some great information.
Let me know what you think about these grip aids in the comments down below. If there was a grip that you like that I didn’t review let me know, and maybe I'll do an update to this list.
[Giveaway now closed]
Outro - Giveaway
Giveaway
You will receive a brand new bottle of the grip aid of your choice for you.
Rules:
Follow @Galacticpolewear
Comment on this blog post with one of the Grip aids* mentioned in this post and tag a friend. Or post on your Instagram account and use #galacticpolegiveaway
Every comment and post is one entry, you can enter as many times as you like!
You get 1 Extra entry for signing up to the mailing list www.galacticpolewear.ca
Giveaway closes September 24th, 2023 at 11:59 pm, winner will be announced September 25th, 2023!
* Grips available for the giveaway, subject to availability *
Dry Hands
X-Dry Sports Grip
Enviro Grip
Dancing Dust - Make me Dusty
Tite Grip II
Grip-iT
Dew Point
Dancing Dust - Make me Dewy
Itac2
Pole Physics
Other products mentioned in this post are not available for the giveaway.
A note about the Amazon links
I’ve linked to Amazon a few times throughout this article in an effort to source my information and provide you with options for possible suppliers. I’m not an Amazon affiliate. I don’t make any money from these links. If possible, support local businesses by buying from a local supplier, your pole studio, or directly from the manufacturer.
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