The optimal hand sweat balance

twocats

I've posted before about my issues with excessively sweaty hands. But it turns out that a slight amount of sweat is good for a bit of grip and not slipping off the black keys. If my hands are too dry, it can be even more slippery!

Anyone else have the same problem, and how do you all deal? There's that famous story of someone cleaning Rubinstein's keyboard before a performance and he was really upset and they ended up adding some grip back on it using hairspray.

pianoloverus

twocats There's that famous story of someone cleaning Horowitz's keyboard before a performance and he was really upset and they ended up adding some grip back on it using hairspray.

That was Rubinstein.

lilypad

twocats I've posted before about my issues with excessively sweaty hands. But it turns out that a slight amount of sweat is good for a bit of grip and not slipping off the black keys. If my hands are too dry, it can be even more slippery!

I occasionally have each of these problems. Sweaty hands most often in the summer and dry slippery hands more often in the winter. For both problems, I run water over my hands. Cold water for sweaty hands and dry thoroughly. Warmer water for dry slippery hands and merely pat dry. Literally 'rinse and repeat' depending on environmental factors and the length of the piano session.

twocats

pianoloverus fixed, thanks!

danno858

I have the opposite problem - my hands get super dry and then sometimes slip off the black keys too easily. My feet have been known to slip on carpeted stairs in the middle of the night for the same reason - too dry.

twocats

danno858 do you ever put something on your hands to address this? Mine are either too wet or too dry, but I prefer too wet if I had to choose! Just a tiny bit moist is the best.

danno858

twocats I use lotion on my hands. But not directly before I play. I don’t like substances on my hands when I play

HeartKeys

I did a private concert in my home two weeks ago, and my hand sweated a lot, and somehow it held on to keys like velcro. It was really annoying!

TheBoringPianist

Not entirely related, but a friend of mine that does competitive DDR uses baby powder on their pad to decrease friction (so they can move more quickly/efficiently). I imagine they're also trying to achieve some ideal balance of grippy vs slippery. I think my piano tech would probably murder me if I baby powdered my keys though.

Weightlifters, gymnasts, dancers, and boulderers of course often use chalk for grip... and now I can't stop imagining a pianist chalking their fingers before a performance 😆

twocats

TheBoringPianist and now I can't stop imagining a pianist chalking their fingers before a performance 😆

Only if it's someone else's piano haha 🤣

ShiroKuro

TheBoringPianist competitive DDR

What is DDR?

TheBoringPianist I think my piano tech would probably murder me if I baby powdered my keys though.

😆

twocats

ShiroKuro What is DDR?

Dance Dance Revolution!

ShiroKuro

twocats omg!!! I was living in Japan when that first came out!! It was so fun (and I was so bad)

I had no idea there was a competitive version now!!

twocats

ShiroKuro I think he means a DDR competition? There's competitions for basically everything 😂

I, too, love DDR but am pretty bad at it. It's so much fun and also great exercise!

ShiroKuro

twocats I think he means a DDR competition?

Yes, that’s what I meant, I totally forgot about DDR and I had no idea there was competing in it… I didn’t realize it was even still around.

Where would one go to participate in a DDR competition? Are there still game centers (I guess they’re called arcades in the U.S.)?

twocats

ShiroKuro Are there still game centers (I guess they’re called arcades in the U.S.)?

There are definitely still arcades here! More for middle-aged people and nostalgia than for teenagers though 😜

ShiroKuro

twocats More for middle-aged people and nostalgia than for teenagers though

Sounds good to me!!! 😆

AaronSF

My problem is hands that are too dry...so my fingers don't grip the keys as much as I would like. My solution is a product called Sortkwik, which is primarily for people who have to count paper money. I did that when I was young and managing an A&W Rootbeer stand. Had to count money every night at closing. Now I've discovered it also works to help my dry fingers grip the piano keys. Works well.

twocats

AaronSF My problem is hands that are too dry...so my fingers don't grip the keys as much as I would like. My solution is a product called Sortkwik, which is primarily for people who have to count paper money

Cool!! My hands are either too wet or too dry. Does this not leave any residue on the keys (like the sides of the keys on the wood)? Also any idea what would happen if my hands suddenly started to sweat while using this?

I think maybe if I excessively dry my hands and then use a product like this, maybe it would help to get the right balance.