September 15, 2006
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Anti-static
I am really big on cheap home remedies. When I was in grad school, I read that cream of tartar could be used to remove certain stains. I think it might have been rust stains off my racquetball headband? Anyway, my roommate Brian turned that idea into a general mockery: “Hey, maybe we can solve this problem with some cream of tartar!”
But lately I’ve found one that really works. As the weather gets colder, I’ve started getting static shock on touching any metal. Now if I were a mutant, that could be some sort of cool super-power, but in reality it’s just an annoyance. Plus, it’s dangerous at work, since I handle circuit boards and chips which could be damaged that way. June really hates getting out of the car and getting shocked when she closes the car door. So I googled “anti-static” and found some commericial sprays. I also found a homebrew solution that involved commercial fabric softener and ammonia. Now I don’t mess around with ammonia, because in the back of my mind I know there’s chlorine involved, and that stuff was used as a WMD back in World War I. So I thought, maybe commercial fabric softener itself will do the trick.
I took a sheet of Bounce (the sheets you throw in the dryer) and used it to wipe down the car seats. Voila — no more car-exit static shock! I think I’ll start using it on regular dryer loads, too.
Comments (7)
shoot I was going to suggest using fabric softeners. For June, have your keys handy to discharge against the metal before you touch the car, just make sure you have a car key that has a plastic part.
My friends and I had a similar general mockery but with tiger balm: “You broke your arm? No problem, just use some tiger balm. Flu? Tiger balm.”
My Big Fat Greek Wedding.. use Windex.
bounce sheets work great on my hair. they work even after a load of laundry.
Umm . . it’s bleach that has chlorine, not ammonia.
there’s anti-static spray, for slacks and skirts and stuff. that’d probably work, too, but Bounce wins out for already being handy, I guess. My dad used to have an old mazda 626, and he would touch a certain metal part on the automatic seat belt as he was getting out, which stopped the shocks.
My worst experience was working in my dad’s office for a few weeks: I couldn’t wear sneakers, and for some reason no matter what (presentable) shoes I wore I would get shocked every time I walked more than 5 yards of carpet. That sucked.
leather seats FTW!!!