Say Goodbye to Static in Your Clothes With These Simple Tricks

Have you ever heard a crackling sound from your clothes or put on a t-shirt that was somehow sticking to your body and you couldn’t figure out why? Even worse, have you gotten a mild shock while putting a clothing item on? Well, these are all indications that you have dealt with static in your clothing. This is quite an uncomfortable thing to deal with, especially if you have been experiencing any of the above situations on a regular basis. Fortunately, there are more than a few ways to get rid of static in clothes. Before we dive into that, though, let's learn a little more about static electricity.

What is Static and How is it Caused?

Static in your clothing is the build-up of a small charge of electricity. While it is more commonly seen with synthetic fabrics, it is due to the friction caused by the material rubbing against itself or another. Since static occurs when the clothing is dry, you tend to notice this happening more often in drier climates, such as the winter months. If you're using a tumble dryer, however, you might experience this all year round.

With that said, there are several reliable ways to both, prevent static from building up, as well as get rid of already built-up static.

How to Avoid Static Buildup?

We all know that prevention is better than cure, and that certainly applies here, too! If you don't run the risk of your clothing getting charged, you don't have to worry about static buildup altogether. Here are a few ways to prevent the problem:

• Synthetic materials are more susceptible to building up a charge, therefore, choosing clothing with more natural fibres will help keep the problem at bay. This is due to the fact that natural fibers tend to retain moisture better than synthetic materials and therefore, are less likely to create enough friction to cause a charge.

• If you're not keen on giving up your synthetics, adding a fabric conditioner to your washes can work wonders. The conditioner softens up the fabrics, making them fluffy after the wash and, more importantly, it helps prevent the extra friction in the drying process. This, in turn, eliminates the possibility of static.

• If you're trying to avoid using commercial chemicals in your washes, white vinegar works as a great, natural alternative to a fabric conditioner. Just replace the conditioner with white vinegar in your wash, and you should get similar results.

• Since drying is the part of the process where static charge occurs in clothing, it's a good idea to dry synthetics apart from your natural clothing. Doing this means only your synthetics run the risk of a charge. If you choose to mix the two, all your clothes may end up getting charged.

• If air-drying your washed clothing is an option, we suggest going with it. Since the clothing isn't being rubbed up against each other, no static can develop when you hang your clothes to dry.

• If you cannot avoid the dryer, use a dryer sheet, or dryer balls. These help prevent the clothing from making too much contact with each other.

• If you don't have dryer sheets/balls, you could try removing your clothing from the dryer just before the entire cycle has completed. This way, a small amount of moisture is retained, and static cannot develop. As a perk, your clothing will be less likely to develop wrinkles too. It should be noted that the clothes must be air-dried completely before storing them away. 

• Besides this, a very basic trick is giving your clothes a good shake after drying them as this could help eliminate the charge.

• Finally, dry air allows the clothing to retain the charge, so using an air humidifier in drier climate could help immensely as well.

How to Remove Static from Clothing?

Now that you know how to prevent static buildup in clothes, knowing how to get rid of the charge when it occurs is equally important. Take a look at these quick tips to get rid of static in your clothing: 

• For a commercial quick-fix, there are anti-static sprays that one can purchase to get rid of static fast. It is designed to immediately dissipate the charge just from spraying it on.

• If you've got dryer sheets but haven't used them in the dryer itself, you can rub the inside of your clothing with the sheet, and it'll get rid of any static charge present on the material.

• If you don't have any sheets, you could try using a moisturising lotion on your skin, or use an extremely light spray of water on the clothing to get rid of the charge too. Since any amount of moisture will help alleviate the static, either of these methods work well.

• Finally, as a last resort, if you have a wire hanger, run the long end of the hanger across your clothing just before putting them on. This helps because, just like the water, the hanger conducts the charge, and removes it from the clothing.

With all of the information above in mind, getting rid of static in clothes should be no trouble at all! Having said that, we definitely recommend using fewer synthetic fabrics as much as possible, and relying more on air-drying rather than tumble drying your washed laundry. This is the easiest, cheapest, and cleanest way to ensure that you do not have to deal with static in your clothing ever again!