Slick ballroom floors

[Katarzyna]

What is a typical method to make a very fast floor a little less slippery???

[JoepiE]

Shoe brush and: water, paraffin or castor oil.

Water works good, but only last only a short time, even if you soke your shoes in it till you get moist feet. Paraffin works only on certain floors, it doesn't even work on all wooden floors, I danced a comp in France some time ago with a very slippery floor and paraffin only made it slippier. When it works it's good, but doesn't last long on dirty (sandy or dusty) floors. Castor oil works best for me, on a lot of floors and it can last fibe dances in a row if you really soke your shoes in it.

[Larinda McRaven]

Find your center and stand over your feet... would be the typical answer. Altough I feel the pain of a dancer dealing with a slick floor, what is slick to one is slow to another. So it is best to deal with it yourself rather than try to change the floor.

When I have been to studios batteling this problem they have used a wash a water and soda, laundry detergent for the soles of the shoes, water for the soles of the shoes, or (the bane of most standard dancers) castor oil/vitamin E.

Speaking from someone trying to maintain a hardwood floor, I can't tell you how important it is to NOT try to change the floor. My floor was very rough, making it feel slow. I was able to put a light sealer on top to try to fill in the grain a little better, but only had time to do half the floor. The latin kids freaked out and tromped all over it with castor oil. When I finally had time to seal the other half, it was already soaked with oil and now I have one side incredible fast and one side permanantly slow. I now have to hire a company to come in and buff out the whole floor, put chemicals on it to draw out the oil, and then reseal the whole thing... PITA

I have advised the use of oil in situations such as a competition or show where the floor is dangerously fast. But in a studio setting it is just a hassle to everyone else, especially the owner of the floor. Remember it is NOT YOUR FLOOR to change, and anything you put on your shoes ultimatley ends up altering their floor.

[Katarzyna]

I actually mean the question in the other way, what can be done to actually change the floor not just shoes? not at a competition but at a studio.. I wonder if there is an easy/not expensive way to do that...

Of courese with a studio owner consent/initiative

[Chris Stratton]

I can't tell you how important it is to NOT try to change the floor...The latin kids freaked out and tromped all over it with castor oil. When I finally had time to seal the other half, it was already soaked with oil

That sounds more like "how important it is to NOT let latin kids on your floor"

Katarzyna, if you are talking about an older studio floor, especially one that's been used socially where dancers may have spread their own wax years ago, a mopping "strip" solvent that would get rid of old wax might be a starting point. A more drastic option is to get it sanded. Beware that a lot of polyurethane finishes will stink unbearably for the first week or two and by quite sticky for the first month or two after installation - this can be a real annoyance to collegiate programs when the school refinishes the gym/aerobics/etc floors each summer.

I've noticed that the prefinished residential wood flooring that is popular of late in new houses tends to be impossibly slick.

[Katarzyna]

That sounds more like "how important it is to NOT let latin kids on your floor"

Katarzyna, if you are talking about an older studio floor, especially one that's been used socially where dancers may have spread their own wax years ago, a mopping "stip" solvent that would get rid of old wax might be a starting point. A more drastic option is to get it sanded. Beware that a lot of polyurethane finishes will stink unbearably for the first week or two and by quite sticky for the first month or two after installation.
Thanks dont think the second thing woudl be an option.. but the first thing could be a possibility

[Larinda McRaven]

That sounds more like "how important it is to NOT let latin kids on your floor"

Yea, I had just spent two days on my floor, sealing it by hand, at least half of it. One boy walked in and poured oil all over his shoes. I looked at him directly and said "I would really rather you NOT put oil on my floor, I just spent two days trying to seal it, oil will ruin it, especially the half that is not sealed yet." He just said "Well it is on my shoes, I didn't put it on the floor!" And then proceeded to walk across leaving big globby foot prints all over.

:roll:

[Chris Stratton]

That's when you hand him a toothbrush and say "clean it up"

[wooh]

Yea, I had just spent two days on my floor, sealing it by hand, at least half of it. One boy walked in and poured oil all over his shoes. I looked at him directly and said "I would really rather you NOT put oil on my floor, I just spent two days trying to seal it, oil will ruin it, especially the half that is not sealed yet." He just said "Well it is on my shoes, I didn't put it on the floor!" And then proceeded to walk across leaving big globby foot prints all over.

:roll:
I'm so very impressed with your self control. I'd be using the boy's head to mop up the mess he'd made.

[and123]

I'd have done some interesting things with his shoes :cool:

[wooh]

I'd have done some interesting things with his shoes :cool:

With his feet in them?:evil:

[bullet]

Well, once I saw that before a volleyball competition, the floor was washed with water with vinegar in it in order not to be slippery. I am not sure that it helps for dance floors but it is a cheap and not taking time option.

[jwlinson]

I've never seen the need in putting anything on the soles of dance shoes, save a spritz of water. In fact, I absolutely hate going to new floors where the other dancers are allowed to use that nasty stuff called "dance wax." Both the DP and I have had many close calls where we'll hit a spot of wax and nearly fall.

Also tends to gunk up good suede soles too. I can't count the time I've spent trying to brush it out.

None of that stuff is allowed at our studio.

[Josh]

I agree jwlinson--emphasizing "spritz" ... stepping in a puddle of water never appealed to me much, but just a spritz that sprays evenly and lightly over the sole of the shoe may help you get your footing. But as Larinda said, I think being adaptable to the floor unless it's ridiculously slick is the best thing to do! Think of different surfaces being like different ballparks in baseball--same game, different park... in one stadium a ball that goes 390 feet dead to center may be a home run, in others it may not be!

[skwiggy]

Yea, I had just spent two days on my floor, sealing it by hand, at least half of it. One boy walked in and poured oil all over his shoes. I looked at him directly and said "I would really rather you NOT put oil on my floor, I just spent two days trying to seal it, oil will ruin it, especially the half that is not sealed yet." He just said "Well it is on my shoes, I didn't put it on the floor!" And then proceeded to walk across leaving big globby foot prints all over.

:roll:

How unbelievably disrespectful. Perhaps "I would really rather" wasn't strong enough for someone so clueless. Maybe he needed something clearer like "don't you dare!". I wonder if posting signs saying oil on the shoes isn't allowed would make a difference?

I used to dance a lot of Lindy Hop. The Lindy Hoppers were notorious for taking regular shoes and putting tape on the bottom of them to make them danceable. Then when they got to a place with a slick floor, they would take the tape off. So they would leave a trail of sticky globs from where the tape used to be on their shoes. I personally spent hours one night scraping tape goop off of the floor. It doesn't ruin the floor like oil, but it's a big PITA. And I guarantee you that none of them had any clue they were causing a problem. Just like I guarantee none of these kids have any clue why you would care if they put oil on their shoes. After all, it's *their* shoes they're treating, right? :roll:

[samina]

How unbelievably disrespectful. Perhaps "I would really rather" wasn't strong enough for someone so clueless. Maybe he needed something clearer like "don't you dare!". I wonder if posting signs saying oil on the shoes isn't allowed would make a difference?



i agree... it's your floor, larinda... you can be as strong as you want in your requirement about how it should be used. i can't use my court shoes without heel protectors on my pro's studio floor... and they have every right to make that request. those floors are expensive business...

[skwiggy]

At one of the local studios where we practice, the previous owner would keep extra heel covers on hand in case any ladies showed up without them. He said that anytime he heard the scraping of bare heels on the wood floor, he would chase the lady down and force her to wear the heel covers. I guess the $5/pair is a small price to pay to protect an expensive wood floor!

[samina]

exactly. smart approach... i would do the same if it were mine.

[Nik]

At my last comp I had the leather part of my heel fall off in the foxtrot and all I had left to work with was the plastic support that the leather thing glued to. Heel leads were not fun at all.

[samina]

At my last comp I had the leather part of my heel fall off in the foxtrot and all I had left to work with was the plastic support that the leather thing glued to. Heel leads were not fun at all.

ahhhh... so that was you! i wondered who lost their heel in the foxtrot...

i dare say you managed a very nice performance the rest of the heat. :)

[Nik]

Yeah I looked back after my reverse wave and I was like i wonder what that black thing in the middle of the floor is. Then after I finished dancing I started limping a little bit and wuickly realized what that black thing in the middle of the floor was.

[jwlinson]

I agree jwlinson--emphasizing "spritz" ... stepping in a puddle of water never appealed to me much, but just a spritz that sprays evenly and lightly over the sole of the shoe may help you get your footing.

That reminds me of something very very stupid I did when I first started dancing. My first pair of shoes was a pair of Capezios I bought off Ebay. The soles were getting gunked up, so I thought "hey, I'll just scrub the sole with soapy water and a good nylon brush, and they'll be good as new!" (I didn't yet know what a real "shoe brush" was, nor how to properly take care of shoes). It seemed like a perfectly logical idea at the time...

So... Next day I find the soles of my one-and-only pair of dance shoes had come partially unglued and were badly warped... Took a while to fix those. Lesson learned. Definite emphasis on "spritz."