Why don't men bring a towel/change of shirt?

[Brighton Belle]

Now I know this doesn't apply to everyone. Most men are very considerate. But let's face it - dancing is an active sport and people get hot. Especially at this time of year. By 11pm many men (I'm sorry it is mostly men) are... well ...to be blunt.... dripping.

I was in the ladies at a venue recently and met a poor lady trying to dry off a very large and noticable wet patch on the front of her t-shirt that had just been deposited there by an ardent admirer.

They could bring a towel / change their shirt / go outside to cool down. And many do. But a fairly high percentage don't. It's not very difficult so they must make a conscious decision not to do so. Is this because:

a) they don't notice
b) they think no one else will notice
c) they think it doesn't matter
d) they think its sexy
e) they think women don't mind

I've seen many men wiping off their face with a handy towel but its not their face we're in contact with!

Am I being overly fussy?

[Minnie M]

Actually I have found most men do, however they do get very very sweaty and possibly need to change more often. I always seem to get them just before a change

AND......... why do they always want to do "The Comb" when they are dripping


(poor Mrs. Under Par - she must spend a couple of days washing after a weekender)

[clevedonboy]

This tip was given to me by a great Lindy Hopper and really does work

Wear a vest under your shirt - it absorbs the sweat leaving your top layer dry

(and carry a change of vest in your bag)

[StokeBloke]

Originally Posted by clevedonboy

This tip was given to me by a great Lindy Hopper and really does work

Wear a vest under your shirt - it absorbs the sweat leaving your top layer dry

(and carry a change of vest in your bag)

Or a change of both

[dave the scaffolder]

Damned cheek damned cheek I say.

Most men carry numerous clean shirts and towel, flannel, soap and deodorant.

In my bag there are at least 5 clean shirts, 3 tshirts, flannel, towel, deodorant, aftershave and a host of other gorgeous materials to maintain my magnificence.

Some women have a right bo problem.

The problem I find is that as I am trying to get to the facilities to have a spruce up I am constantly grabbed to have just 1 more dance.

Oh the crosses us poor men have to bear to keep you lucky lucky girls satisfied.

And you know you love it when a sweaty hunk of a man does a comb and leaves his gorgeousness of sweat on your lucky hands.

DTS XXX XXX

[frodo]

They could bring a towel / change their shirt / go outside to cool down. And many do. But a fairly high percentage don't. It's not very difficult so they must make a conscious decision not to do so. Is this because:

a) they don't notice
b) they think no one else will notice
c) they think it doesn't matter
d) they think its sexy
e) they think women don't mind

I've seen many men wiping off their face with a handy towel but its not their face we're in contact with!

It is difficult, if considered a problem.


Sweat on a shirt is doing a job in cooling us down. Towelling it off or changing the shirt defeats the purpose of sweat.

It can only take a couple of dances for a shirt to be wet again, so it is impractical to dance generally in a dry state - many shirts would be needed.


Luckily, if not considered a problem, it doesn't require a conscious decision.


Ladies put up with it, sufficiently for it not to be a problem.

Actually we probably all put up with it to a degree given the 'yes' culture of the dance, but men are probably less tolerant of it on ladies, ladies less tolerant of it on themselves, and ladies better cooled.


So the nearest options are:-

C) Not only do they they think it doesn't matter; they're probably right.

With a bit of E) They think women don't mind much; basic observation does tend to back this up.

[Steven666]

As I've said before sweat and f...

Never mind.

Some just natural sweet buckets, myself included. A quick rub down with a towel may only keep him dry for a few minutes, especially if he's putting effort in.

It's when someone doesn't even slightly sweats, it worries me. Are they inhuman or standing out a lot or just going through the motions without effort.

And for the record it's not just the men. I rarely see females with towels to be honest.

As for my sweat, I eat lots of crap so I get what I deserve.

[Filthy Monkey]

I regularly towel off and change my shirt when I dance, but often I'm just as wet again after 2 or 3 dances. It really depends on the venue. I rarely sweat at the Jive Nation venues in London because they are in air conditioned night clubs, but I can easily go through 4 shirts in an hour on a hot Saturday night in the Rivoli. Sometimes it's just not practical to change often enough to stay dry, but that's just a side effect of dancing. If you want to dance with people who put enthusiasm and effort into their dancing, expect a little sweat.

I often dance with women who sweat a lot, but that's only because they are putting energy into it. I can't imagine there's a dancer out there who could get through a good dance to Candyman without sweating! What's more important to me is hygiene. You can sweat, but still smell nice, so by all means towel off and change occasionally, but please make sure you are clean before you come dancing in the first place!

[JiveLad]

Originally Posted by Brighton Belle

Now I know this doesn't apply to everyone. Most men are very considerate. But let's face it - dancing is an active sport and people get hot. Especially at this time of year. By 11pm many men (I'm sorry it is mostly men) are... well ...to be blunt.... dripping.

{snip....rant about sweat......}

Am I being overly fussy?

Well a couple of things, firstly, you are a 'free woman in a free world', so when the local sweat bucket approaches Brighton Belle for a dance you could choose to say one of the following:

(a) No thanks

(b) No - I don't dance with sweaty men - and boy do you look moist tonight - what have you been up to?

(c) I am not being fussy, but I can see that your perspiration level is above the recommended threshold for a dance with me. Please come back after you have showered and changed, then I will reconsider after a further moisture analysis assessment

(d) <look of disdain> You've gotta be joking/You cannot be serious/Get outta here/You are kidding/Next

(e) <hand a towel> Here try this - you might like. It's called a t-o-w-e-l... and it's just been invented. You rub it all over your body (well most of it anyway, excluding your more intimate parts) and hey presto! The towel becomes wet - and you become dry. And let me tell you - I saw some nice ones for sales in TK Max which would really suit you.

(f) You're in the wrong place mate - the sauna is in the next building down

(g) I want to lick the sweat off your neck first - then I want you to take me to the dance floor - and from there back to my apartment and make mad passionate love to me - and then let's see some real sweat. *

(h) Yes - but please under any circumstances do not do one of those 'comb' thingies - touching a sweaty neck makes me do a projectile vomit followed by an unusually severe rash across my forearms. It's a rare condition which was featured in an Episode of House. I was shouting out during that episode saying "I've got that...." - "I know what it is" - when they were still thinking it was an infection (obviously it wasn't cos infections radiate out.......).

(i) Yes. I've been with my therapist the last few weeks to get over my sweat phobia. She gradually introduced me to more and more sweaty bodies - in each session I moved my hand closer and closer - and eventually started touching it. At first it was at level 8 or 9 (yuk!) - then I got it down to 2 or 3....starting to be ok. When I see you it gives me about a '4' - but I'll go with it...........

(j) <sheepish look> Ok then.

(k) YES! Let's embrace and celebrate the sweat - a fantastic thermoregulatory feature of the human body. I just LOVE it - sometimes salty, sometimes more like pure water and sometimes... slightly spicy. Ooooh it really gets me feeling quite hot..........and sweaty.


* Only applies if the guy is: Johnny Depp/George Clooney/Jude Law/Orlando Bloom/Andy McGregor (delete as appropriate)

[DD+]

Originally Posted by Steven666

As I've said before sweat and f...

Never mind.

Some just natural sweet buckets, myself included. A quick rub down with a towel may only keep him dry for a few minutes, especially if he's putting effort in.

It's when someone doesn't even slightly sweats, it worries me. Are they inhuman or standing out a lot or just going through the motions without effort.

And for the record it's not just the men. I rarely see females with towels to be honest.

As for my sweat, I eat lots of crap so I get what I deserve.

I am one of those ladies that does indeed sweat - but one that also takes at least 3 changes of top to a venue along with my towel and deodorant

[Steven666]

Originally Posted by DD+

I am one of those ladies that does indeed sweat - but one that also takes at least 3 changes of top to a venue along with my towel and deodorant

You're one of the few that do bring a towel/change.

Lots of women sweat. Most though never bring a towel

[Brighton Belle]

Originally Posted by Filthy Monkey

What's more important to me is hygiene. You can sweat, but still smell nice, !

As far as possible I never refuse anyone a dance on any grounds - sweat or anything else. A fragrant man is still more pleasurable however

So the opinion of the men is that we should put up with it. Fair comment. But what do the ladies think?

[dave the scaffolder]

If you dont like it dont dance with the sweaty men.

They have become sweaty because they are popular dancers.

I have said it before and will say it again YOU CAN SAY NO.

DTS XXX XXX

[Easily Led]

Originally Posted by dave the scaffolder

If you dont like it dont dance with the sweaty men.

They have become sweaty because they are popular dancers.

I have said it before and will say it again YOU CAN SAY NO.

DTS XXX XXX

- although if both of you have sweaty hands connection can be a problem .....! (Also, I can verify the number of changes DTS makes as I noticed at least 3 last time I saw him !

[Agente Secreto]

Originally Posted by clevedonboy

This tip was given to me by a great Lindy Hopper and really does work

Wear a vest under your shirt - it absorbs the sweat leaving your top layer dry

(and carry a change of vest in your bag)

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

Or a change of both

Originally Posted by dave the scaffolder

Most men carry numerous clean shirts and towel, flannel, soap and deodorant.

In my bag there are at least 5 clean shirts, 3 tshirts, flannel, towel, deodorant, aftershave and a host of other gorgeous materials to maintain my magnificence.

The problem I find is that as I am trying to get to the facilities to have a spruce up I am constantly grabbed to have just 1 more dance.

I think that many of the men that are popular to dance with understand how their sweaty bodies might interfere with 'connection' and do change regularly.

I'm a big lad and I do sweat quite a bit, especially if I'm in the zone and hardly sit down. I carry several changes, a couple of towels and a selection of toiletries to try and make myself a bit more pleasant to dance with. I plan on getting through a fresh t-shirt for roughly every hour of dancing, and I have also started wearing a shirt over my t-shirt and it does work well.

It is a challenge sometimes to get off the floor to change though. Even although I'm far from being George Clooney or Brad Pitt (and of course I'm not a dance god like DTS) I'll often be intercepted on the way off the floor as I'm off to change and when I say I'm a bit sweaty can I just change the answer is often 'no, I don't mind a bit of sweat'. For this reason I also carry a small travel towel in my pocket now to grab a quick wipe if I can't get off the floor - this gets washed 3 or 4 times in an evening. I try not to do the comb when I'm overly sweaty, and have to make sure when dipping or dropping my partner I don't end up dripping on then.

I have experienced the odd lady who could also have done with a change or a towel down, although thankfully sweaty ladies do seem to be rarer. However I have to say that I'm not that bothered if my partner works up a bit of sweat if we are having a good dance.

[Andy McGregor]

Originally Posted by JiveLad

* Only applies if the guy is: Johnny Depp/George Clooney/Jude Law/Orlando Bloom/Andy McGregor (delete as appropriate)

This makes perfect sense to me - apart from the delete as appropriate. What girl wouldn't want us all?

I don't sweat much on the dance floor and have not used a towel for years. Sweat is dispensed in the exact quantity to cool your body to it's proper operating temperature. Removing that sweat will just result in more sweat being dispensed.

There are two solutions to the sweat problem and neither involves a towel. The first solution is to improve your dancing to a level where it is less effort and results in less heat production - you will sweat much less and probably never to a dripping level. The second solution is go somewhere cool or stand in a breeze to allow your sweat to evaporate and cool your body to it's normal operating temperature - and then replace the lost fluid by taking a drink. That way you have a cool, dry, hydrated body that's not hot and tired - probably what Brigton Belle would perfer to a towelled, dry but overheated partner - especially if she is going to act on JiveLad's other suggestion

[Agente Secreto]

Originally Posted by Andy McGregor

There are two solutions to the sweat problem and neither involves a towel. The first solution is to improve your dancing to a level where it is less effort and results in less heat production - you will sweat much less and probably never to a dripping level.

Andy, I wonder if your posts are for real some times.

You must be the perfect dance partner. First of all your technique is better than the average bear, no circles or any other bad habits that are handed out by the poorer teachers as we see from other threads. Now we get the message that you've advanced your dancing to such a level that you don't even break sweat. My god man how do you manage it, and do you wear your underpants on the outside of your (sweat-free) trousers?

As a mere mortal, a bit [lot] overweight, with only 2 years of MJ under my belt I guess I've got a lot of improving to do before I stop sweating. But then again, even when I was 22, fresh out of officer training and the fittest I've ever been, I've always sweated more than others. Now improving my general level of fitness will no doubt help, as would losing a bit of weight but unless I can move to Sussex and start coming to your classes to see how to improve my technique sufficiently that it has a major effect I guess I'll just have to keep carrying a towel and several changes of shirt.

[CheesyRobMan]

I don't usually bring a change of shirt to a normal weeknight class but will bring one or two spares to a freestyle. I carry a couple of hankies too to mop my brow if it gets too warm but not a towel, that seems to be a bit excessive unless you're actually washing yourself off in the basins or something. I've never had a huge problem with sweating.

[MartinHarper]

Originally Posted by Brighton Belle

Let's face it - dancing is an active sport and people get hot.

So let's face it, sweat is part of the hobby.

[Lee Bartholomew]

A pack of baby wipes put in the freezer a few hours before dancing is my tip.

Men who don't sweat are men who are not putting enough effort in to their dancing. If it was down to technique and skill level, you wouldn't see the likes of Jordan, Amir and Simon R sweat would you?