I'm constantly shocking people. But why?

March 29, 2016 12:20 AM

I get and give little electric shocks all the time. This means I often get zapped i.e. when touching a computer or door. That's annoying but okay but it gets worse when I zap coworkers, friends or even clients. I'm not so much interested in how to cope with this but more in what causes this issue. Do you know why I fry them?
posted by krautland to Science & Nature (28 answers total)

This may be a silly question but, do you drag your feet?
posted by blackzinfandel at 12:31 AM on March 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

Not sure if your type of shoes may also be a factor?
posted by Unsomnambulist at 12:49 AM on March 29, 2016

2nd type of shoes (or rather: soles).
posted by pompomtom at 12:56 AM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

This is called Static Electricity.

I'm going to go ahead and surmise that the air where you are is dry, there's likely a lot of carpet, it's possible you drag your feet, and any other combo of conditions that create static electricity. You, uh, might want to be careful when you fill up your car with gas (Google because this is a thing.)
posted by jbenben at 12:59 AM on March 29, 2016

Fourthing triboelectricity.

Also check for a wool sweater against a synthetic fabric chair. Or vice versa.

Anti-static grounding keychains are a thing. I think they're basically 1MOhm resistors that discharge you to ground but it takes longer so the instantaneous current is lower and it doesn't feel 'zappy'. (Integrated current, that is, total charge, will be the same.)
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:31 AM on March 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

When I first started wearing Nike Free and Nike Roshe trainers, I shocked EVERYTHING. Turned out, it was the insoles in my shoes: the right combo of shape/pattern and materials I guess? So I switched insoles and the problem immediately vanished.
posted by still bill at 2:26 AM on March 29, 2016

Known phenomenon. For me, the zapping varied wildly from workplace to workplace while my shoes didn't necessarily, so I'm thinking it could be a combination of certain types of shoes and the (synthetic) floor cover of a specific place.
posted by Namlit at 2:49 AM on March 29, 2016

Nthing your shoes. And the carpet.
posted by gorcha at 3:23 AM on March 29, 2016

Favorites because this is so me; hoping to benefit from your answers.

(Like, I can't remember opening a car door without shocking my hand, since I was a teen.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:44 AM on March 29, 2016

I am guessing since you are a dude you're less likely to use lotion.
posted by Violet Hour at 4:15 AM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is me, too. I can't touch anything electrical (light switches, my oven controls, plugging in/unplugging my iPad, etc.) or people without getting zapped. My wife doesn't have that problem. It's only in the house, though. Not outside or in the car. And, I'm not a foot dragger.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:09 AM on March 29, 2016

The why has already been explained, so I wanted to suggest something you could try to verify the why, and maybe help cope with it as well.

Try some electrostatic discharge preventative measures.

For example, wash and dry your clothes with Downy fabric softener. Look at what sorts of things you are wearing to see if they're more susceptible to ESD than other types of clothing. It sounds like this is happening to you everywhere, so it is likely your own personal environment (i.e. primarily clothing) that is contributing to this, though it is also likely you live in a low humidity and possibly cooler region (air retains more moisture as it warms up).

I regularly work with extremely expensive electronic gear, so ESD reduction is just a way of life and I don't even think about it much. About half of it is related to clothing choices, in my experience, including things like making use of fabric softener.

Increase the humidity of your home and workplace if you can.

Keep your skin moisturized.

Avoid synthetic fibers like polyester and nylon for clothing.

You can find ESD shoewear (such as the Red Wing 2241's I wear constantly) that helps dissipate static as well. Rubber-soled shoes tend to help you build up static.

If you have carpet, especially with synthetic fibers, you can spray it with a diluted mix of Downy. We have a little 5 gallon sprayer that's made for spraying plants and bushes and makes quick work of it. This has to be reapplied fairly frequently, every few months perhaps.
posted by jgreco at 6:32 AM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you don't already: Use dryer sheets while doing laundry.
posted by Milau at 6:54 AM on March 29, 2016

jgreco: Rubber-soled shoes tend to help you build up static.

Would this apply to Vibram soles, too?

I am surrounded by a corona of static electricity at all times, and I especially hate the strong shocks into my hands. If I know it is because of my shoes, then I can take some steps (HAR) to dissipate it whenever I am wearing those shoes.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:56 AM on March 29, 2016

One trick I have learned about deliberately discharging static is that your knuckles aren't as sensitive as the rest of your hands. So if you touch something metal with your knuckle instead of your fingertips, you won't really feel the ZAP.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:58 AM on March 29, 2016 [7 favorites]

wenestvedt: I've never seen Vibram that I know of, but a quick Google suggests that it is an ESD material that would have reasonable ESD properties. The problem with rubber-soled shoes is that it is something along the lines of the classic rub a rubber balloon with some wool and then hold it up to someone's hair experiment. It doesn't take much to collect a charge.

Switching out just one thing isn't likely to be a comprehensive fix to the problem, but on the other hand, it doesn't hurt to experiment. I'd suggest, however, that you start by considering what you are wearing, because fabric softener is both inexpensive and also fairly effective at reducing ESD.

If you can find inexpensive footwear that is ESD, especially if you needed new shoes anyways and the price differential isn't great, that's certainly a reasonable experiment. I wouldn't recommend just going out and getting expensive ESD footwear, however, because by itself that is not likely to be a good fix to a bad static problem.
posted by jgreco at 7:16 AM on March 29, 2016

I'm a disaster with this. I refuse to allow synthetic fabric in my home because any exposure to fleece sets off an electrical storm. I live in Louisiana! This shouldn't be happening.

Some things about me that I think started it-
I had to wear corrective shoes when I was little because my knees knocked together so badly when I walked that I had bruises. My legs still swish when I'm walking.
I've been shocked several times in my life, the first time was when I was preschool age. Several of these accidents resulted in me being thrown back and on the ground.
When lightening passes, it hits my house. Like, often.

From what I've read, other people get this because they live near power lines, wear polyester, are overweight (fat covered polyester rubs against fat covered polyester), shuffle when they walk, and live in dry climates.

There are static dischargers that attach to your keychain. I use mine when I'm fueling up my car or going into my house during a dryer season, to avoid sparks.
posted by myselfasme at 7:22 AM on March 29, 2016

If it helps you feel better about this, cleanliness makes you more susceptible to static.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:59 AM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

I have PF so wear crocs a lot, when I do I shock the hell out of everyone as the shoes are very good insulators, if I don't earth myself regularly I get a hell of a shock when I finally touch something conductive. I now have the habit of randomly touching things as I walk around the house.

A top of the line, pumps out gallons of water a day humidifier also helped tremendously.
posted by wwax at 8:32 AM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Anti-static grounding keychains are a thing. I think they're basically 1MOhm resistors that discharge you to ground but it takes longer so the instantaneous current is lower and it doesn't feel 'zappy'. (Integrated current, that is, total charge, will be the same.)

You don't need a fancy gizmo for this. You can use any small, conductive metal object-- a key is perfect. Just grasp it and touch it to anything else metal, like a doorknob or filing cabinet. You'll feel the electricity discharge, but it won't hurt.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:18 AM on March 29, 2016

Sounds like you need an anti-static strap attached to your shoe.
posted by CaseyB at 9:22 AM on March 29, 2016

Does this happen only at work? I had this at one office I worked at that was filled with nasty synthetic carpet. I could defuse the static charge by tapping my elbow on the door or wall before reaching for the doorknob. It became automatic after a while.

If you don't use dryer sheets in your dryer, it might be a good idea to start. I get horrible static cling if I forget to put one in. But if you do forget, just put some hand lotion on your hands, rub most of it in, and then gently brush yourself down all over like you're getting rid of some crumbs.
posted by vickyverky at 9:33 AM on March 29, 2016

In an office you can solve a lot of the buildup friction by getting a floor/chair mat for your chair so you're not building up static by fidgeting while seated.
posted by srboisvert at 11:53 AM on March 29, 2016

One trick I have learned about deliberately discharging static is that your knuckles aren't as sensitive as the rest of your hands. So if you touch something metal with your knuckle instead of your fingertips, you won't really feel the ZAP.

Better still, use your elbow - very few pain receptors there, and just as effective. I tend to get static buildup at certain times of the year with certain items of clothing (particularly when putting on or taking off jackets) - a quick elbow-tap on a metal surface (we have a great set of zinc-anodyne shelves in our kitchen) can make audible discharges completely painless.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 12:23 PM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

In addition to the suggestions that it is something you are wearing/doing/not doing, this is a known thing for certain medical conditions. So, there may be something odd about your biochemistry.

I have a medical condition that is known to promote this and I used to get shocked a LOT. I don't anymore. I recently read an article about going shoeless on certain types of surfaces. That article had some clues that helped me think more broadly about this. Not only has my biochemistry changed, but I exclusively wear sandals these days and have a lot more contact with the actual ground (instead of, say, carpets), so I may be literally getting grounded.
posted by Michele in California at 12:45 PM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Put lotion on your hands, that'll reduce the shocks. Also change shoes.
posted by Toddles at 6:54 PM on March 29, 2016

Response by poster: while I do wear sneakers from time to time my office has a concrete floor, so that confuses me a bit.

thank you all for the advise, I will try lotion first and escalate after.
posted by krautland at 8:53 AM on March 31, 2016

I spend the whole winter pre-emptively discarging static - floor covering doesn't seem to matter: at work it's wearing rubber shoe soles and something to do with my desk chair; at home, rubber slipper soles and the fleece throw on my sofa. I habitually wear a ring, and in winter I touch it against metal things before touching them with my hand. There's a *snap* and a visible spark and no pain.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:14 PM on April 11, 2016 [1 favorite]