Interesting point, at home in the UK we have a dehumidifier as the moisture at this time of year gets quite bad on the windows especially after cooking and running baths.

Didn't realise it was such a problem in Canada, we noticed it whilst on holiday recently and it became a bit of a joke, nobody wanting to be first to push the elevator call button in the hotel.

I've noticed I've been zapping the dog when I go to stroke him sometimes!

love this thread! I recently went back to Canada and noticed the shocking too... and I'm Canadian, never noticed it to be that bad when I lived there. Some of the things that was used in my Canadian home (especially during winter) was a humidifier that was near the top of the house on the stair landing.

Something not mentioned yet... anti-static Bounce (or Downy) dryer sheets... toss 2 sheets in (for a full load) at the start of the dryer cycle.

People say the liquid fabric softner stuff works just as well but I think its a load of tosh... we use the liquid stuff in our wash here every load & when our UK cleaned clothes arrived in Canada we were getting loads of shocks.

Daedra, where have you been hiding, did you run out of things to say?

Anyway you're right about the bounce or dryer sheets. We didn't use these and when i took my fleece out of the dryer, wow it clung to me like mad, so putting it on was fun.

It all comes down to humidity. Central humidifier at home, room humidifier at work if you have too. The cars a problem though, could try snow in the footwell, but your windows might steam up. Touching the car with the keys to discharge through the metal helps with the pain...just dont hold only the rubber nubby bit eh Natural fibers rather than artificial will reduce static too.


Welcome to Canada eh

Strangely enough, we don't seem to suffer from this too much apart from the occasional small spark from the car and wall screws.

There is one wall in the work though that if you touch the edge it nearly fries you! I just put that down to a poorly insulated live wire hidden behind the plaster though.

Me? Run out of things to say? Never!

Must confess havent been keeping up with BE of late as I discovered Yahoo Games has a version of Yaztee online. One of the few games I can sometimes win at (which makes it very addictive)

Ahh I miss having washer & dryer laundry facilities & an actual seperate 'laundry' room... its time consuming keeping up on the laundry of 2 adults here, not attractive to guests seeing your delicates hung up on a drying contraption in the front room either

Another trick my mum used to do is to put a used sheet of Bounce or Downy in with the stored seasonal clothes so that they smell nice and fresh when taken out after months of storage.

I ZZAAPPP my OH frequently


Got a real shocker from a clothes rail in a shop recently, nearly gave up and went home .

My girls suffered with static hair - both looking like they had constantly seen a ghost.
I have recently changed their Shampoo and Conditioner to Pantene "Winter". They now don't have a problem.

But how does the cat feel?

Thank you, I knew it couldn't just be me!

I have been here since July and an sick and tired of getting shocks off just about everything. I dread opening shop doors and getting out of the car and try to do so with my coat sleeve over my hand.

My hubby thought I was making it up until the other day when we were in a furniture store and I touched a metal screen and got such a belt that he heard it from several feet away. I really does hurt.

He keeps blaming my nylon knickers, but I swear they are cotton!

BTW. We have a dehumidifier in the house and I rarely have a problem, although I had never really thought about till now!

get a humidifier , definately helps with the hair!!
i was going slightly crazy with mine until we got one
its all down to the extreme cold outside and the dry air inside
we picked one up for about 40 dollars at walmart

Clare

Dehumidifiers are only to be used during hot summer months... humidifiers to be used during dry (aka keep your windows & doors shut) winter months... most homes & places of work in Canada are heated by Hydro electricity, which means electric heaters that zap the humidity out of the air.

Also make sure you use dryer sheets when doing your clothes washing, otherwise the cling/static build up reaches enormous potential with all the friction going on in the dryer.

As previously stated, try to avoid synthetic fabrics like Polyester & Nylon (unless low percentages on the labels) as they have a higher capacity to hold a charge.

Man this thread brought me back to my youth!!! I was 11 years old when I moved to Canada from the South Pacific & I never experienced static shock to THAT intensity until Canada... it can really hurt!!

the kids see this as a sport now, lets see how much charge they can get up and then let it off with a light touch to your face when your not expecting it, the @/?* Well I am on the look out for that shampoo and will make sure when I`m driving I use the keys, then make sure i`m not the first out if I don`t have them. for the cat thing alas no cat but will the kids hamster do

Sutherlands

I hope thats not true. Most homes are heated with gas and oil, Hydro is the single most expensive way to heat.


The humidity is low not cos of "zapping", but because the outside air is too cold to hold much moisture, its simple physics. Even in oil and gas heating where moisture is a combustion byproduct, its not that hot gas that heats the house, it all goes through a heat exchanger, heating up the same old air an electric heater does.