How to prevent getting zapped by static electricity
Have you ever touched a doorknob, a car door or some other metal object and ended up getting zapped by a static discharge?
I have too, and it's no fun.
A typical static discharge can transfer 20,000 volts or more from your body to a metal object, resulting in a visible spark and a very painful zap.
That's literally like getting struck by a miniature lightning bolt.
Luckily, there are several things you can do to prevent the build-up of a dangerous static charge:
1 - Use a humidifier to keep the air in your home or office from drying out too much. There is no hard and fast rule, but it's probably best to aim for a humidity level of around 50 percent.
2 - Pick up your feet when you walk. Under the right conditions, shuffling your feet on the floor can quickly generate enough static to give you quite a strong zap.
Which brings us to...
3 - Regularly treat your carpets with a light coating of a good anti-static spray. These treatments will greatly reduce the amount of static electricity that you and others will generate while walking around your home or office.
4 - When doing your laundry, always use fabric softener. That will discourage the build-up of static electricity as you move around in your clothes.
5 - Always remember that dry skin is a virtual "battery" for static electricity.
Therefore, keeping your skin moisturized will help prevent it from building a static charge.
The steps mentioned above can help reduce, or even eliminate most static shocks from your life, but there will be times when circumstances allow it to build up anyway.
If you ever happen to expect that you're in for a nasty shock the next time you touch a metal object, touch that object with another metal object before you touch it with your body.
For example, if you're wearing a metal ring, touching a doorknob with the ring before you grab it with your hand will dissipate the static and prevent you from getting shocked.
If you don't wear a ring you can use a coin, a key or most any other metal object that you happen to be carrying at the time.
In fact, I once worked with a lady who carried a metal thimble in her pocket solely for the purpose of dissipating static electricity.
As she approached a door she would pull out the thimble, then put it on her finger and touch the doorknob with it.
Pretty simple stuff, right?
To finish up, here's a short, but very interesting video that demonstrates how static electricity can be used to create a bit of "magic". Check it out.
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I live in a very dry area. You'd go broke feeding a humidifier distilled water. If you don't use distilled water you'd go broke buying new humidifiers! LOL I do use one at night. I've always had alot of static. From the time I was a child I could not wear wind up watches I'd stop them dead every time. Someone told my mom to put a piece of black electrical tape on the back and that did the trick! Every time I go sit down it seems my cat Chloé wants to come put her nose to my lips and I shock the snot out of her! 🤣 I get the...you're an a-o look and she walks off! 🤷♀️ Sorry Chloé! Your mom's ELECTRIFYING! 😜🤭😆