It’s Friday night, so you put on your favorite outfit and head out to dinner. As you arrive at the restaurant and reach out to greet your friend, a shock nips at your fingers, eliciting a tiny yelp from the both of you. Static electricity strikes again!
Or picture this — you put on your favorite silk or satin blouse and notice the garment sticking to your body in all the wrong places. You try to shake it out, but it’s not working. Static cling won’t go down that easy.
Static electricity is a fact of life, building up in your clothes to harass you with awkwardly sticking garments or the unpleasant surprise of a sudden shock. But why does this happen? Read our tips & tricks to learn how to get static out of clothes.
What Causes Static in Clothes?
Scientifically speaking, electrons build up in the atmosphere with a mix of positive and negative charges. Since opposite charges attract, when these electrons meet, they produce a shock. However, if these electrons aren’t strong enough, they cling instead. Because dry air is an electrical insulator, this shocking or clinging static buildup often happens in the winter months when the air has lower humidity. And the dry, hot air in a tumble dryer can cause even more static electricity in clothes.
7 Tips to Prevent Static Cling
Here is a list of helpful hints to help eliminate static electricity and get rid of static cling — so you can stop shocking yourself and others:
- Fabric Softener – Fabric softener leaves your garments smelling extra fresh and feeling super soft. Plus, it invisibly lubricates your clothing, which dispels electricity.
- Dryer Sheets – Adding an anti-static dryer sheet stops electrons from building up when your clothes inevitably rub together in your dryer.
- Lotion – Putting body moisturizer on before getting dressed prevents your clothing from rubbing against your dry skin and eliminates unwanted sparks when you get dressed.
- Grounded Metal – Occasionally touching grounded metal, such as a street pole or water pipes, will discharge the electricity from your clothes and body directly to the ground.
- A Humidifier – Since dry air is the largest contributor to static electricity, putting a humidifier near your laundry room can help eliminate this issue.
- Seperate Natural Fibers From Synthetic Fibers – When cotton fibers rub up against some of the synthetic blends in workout clothing that can create static electricity. Drying these items separately can prevent that from occurring.
- Shake the clothes when you take them out of the dryer or air dry – The high heat and constant tumbling in a dryer can cause static to generate. Drying on an old-fashioned clothes line ensures that static will be non-existent.
6 Tips to Get Static Out of Clothes
If you find your clothes adhering to your body in a way that’s less than flattering, try these solutions to get static out of clothes:
- Water – Don’t use this trick on delicate fabrics like silk. But for other, more durable fabrics, lightly wet your hands and then gently brush them over the surface of your clothing to dispel static cling.
- Static Guard – This is a spray coating made from a mixture of water and alcohol that neutralizes the charge from static electricity. Spraying it on the inside of your clothes eliminates static instantly.
- Talcum Powder – Apply talcum powder directly to your skin where the fabric is extra clingy.
- Dryer Sheets – Besides using dryer sheets for their intended use, you can also rub them on your clothing to disarm static.
- Dryer Balls -These have many uses, including reducing drying time and softening your clothes. And if you stick a few safety pins in your dryer balls, they also fight static. When the safety pins touch the metal inside the dryer, the electrons are discharged away from the fabric into the dryer drum, reducing the static left behind in your clothes.
- Wood clothes hangers – Velvet clothes hangers can actually increase the static electricity in your clothing. Using wood hangers like those offered at Mulberrys will reduce the static on your clothing.
Mulberrys Garment Care
Want clean, professional, and neatly pressed clothes without all the fuss and muss? Mulberrys Garment Care is a full-service laundry company that provides an array of services, including dry cleaning pick-up and delivery, wash and fold, clothing alterations, wedding dress preservation, and more.
We provide affordable and convenient high-quality laundry services using environmentally-friendly cleaning products. Contact us today to learn more about our services!
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