Picture this — you put on your favorite outfit and head out for a fun night. As you leave the house, you notice the garments sticking to your body in all the wrong places. You try to shake it out, but it won’t work. You quickly run back inside to change even though you know you’ll be late.
One of the most annoying laundry-related problems you’ll face is static cling. Luckily, with a few clever tips and tricks from Jack’s Cleaners, you can prevent and put an end to static cling once and for all.
What Causes Static in Clothes?
When different fabrics rub against each other an electrostatic charge builds up in your clothes. This is especially true with synthetic fabrics. In more scientific terms, your clothes develop static charge as an effect of electrons moving from one material to the other. This results in an imbalance between negative and positive charges in the two fabrics. As objects with opposite charges attract each other, the two fabrics will become inseparable, kind of like peanut butter and jelly.
Static in clothes is especially noticeable in low humidity environments. When the air has a reduced moisture content which acts as a natural conductor for any potential static charge.
Tips For Preventing Static in Clothes
How do you prevent static in clothes? Easy! Here are 7 tips and tricks:
- Fabric Softener: Fabric softener lubricates your clothing, which dispels electricity by reducing friction.
- Dryer Sheets: Adding an anti-static dryer sheet can stop electrons from building up when your clothes rub together in the dryer.
- Air Dry: Instead of using the dryer, try air drying or line drying instead.
- Separate Fabrics: Washing and drying different fabric types separately can prevent static cling.
- Shake it Off: As you remove each item from the dryer, give them a quick shake.
- Grounded: Touching grounded metal objects, such as water pipes, will discharge the electricity from your body.
- Humidifier: Because humidity and heat is one the biggest static cling culprits, placing a humidifier near your laundry room can help prevent it.
Tips on How to Remove Static From Clothes
Now that you know how to prevent that dreaded static, let’s talk about how to remove static from clothes for good!
- Water: Lightly wet your hands and then gently brush them over the surface of your clothing. Be cautious however, as using this trick on delicate fabrics, like silk, can be risky.
- Anti-Static Spray: Anti-static spray is made from a mixture of water and alcohol that neutralizes static electricity on-sight.
- Wood & Metal Hangers: Using wooden or metal hangers can reduce static.
- Lotion: Using lotion before getting dressed can prevent and eliminate static by increasing the humidity in the surface layers of your skin.
- Dryer Balls: Sticking a couple safety pins into the dryer balls can eliminate static before even pulling clothes out of the dryer. The metal pins will discharge electrons when touching the metal in your dryer.
Flair Cleaners & Static
If you’re still having trouble getting rid of static electricity on your garments, don’t stress! Here at Flair Cleaners, our professional dry cleaning services will leave your clothes static-free 100% of the time.
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