Short answer. For a first class, use clean, product-free skin. Grip aids are a later choice. Do not rub household substances on the pole or on broken skin.
What is actually gripping
On a metal pole, many holds work because skin sticks. Sweat, lotion, oil and fabric all get in the way. So does a pole that someone has left greasy. Dry hands can slip for the opposite reason: there is too little moisture for the skin to tack. Both happen in the same city, sometimes in the same week, because Brussels humidity moves.
Warm-up matters. Cold hands at the start of class are not a moral failure. They often improve after you have moved.
What to do before class
Shower if you need to, then skip moisturiser on the arms and legs. Wash off hand cream. Wear shorts, as described in what to wear. Flow Factory’s published line is the same: no special grip product for the first class, and no body lotion that day.
Products
Grip aids are bottled products made for pole, aerials or gymnastics. Some add tack. Some help sweaty hands. Some help dry hands. They are not all the same bottle. If you buy one later, read that product’s instructions, patch-test it on unbroken skin, and follow the studio’s rule about what may go on the pole.
Flow Factory sells grip at the studio for students who have started and want it. Using it is a choice, not a requirement.
Do not invent a recipe from sugar, soft drinks, resin not meant for skin, or solvents. Do not put a product on broken or irritated skin. Do not leave a coating on a shared pole for the next person. At Flow Factory, rental rules say the stainless poles are cleaned with the studio’s isopropyl spray, not with whatever is in a student’s bag. Other studios will have their own cleaning rule. Ask before you apply anything to the apparatus.
When grip is bad
Change one thing: dry your hands, chalk or a grip product if the studio allows it, or simply rest if the skin is angry. A slippery day is also information about the room. It is not, by itself, a reason to conclude that you cannot learn pole.