I wear UGG boots in winter because it’s fucking cold.
I also wrap myself in a blanket on the couch, and have a lovely area rug so I don’t have to walk on a cold floor. All these things are necessary to survive the winter; my house isn’t well insulated.
The problem with all this, is that I build up a static charge. So when I go to pat my beautiful sweetheart of a dog, I zap him. It’s audible and I’m sure, quite unpleasant. Often on the head. He obviously doesn’t like that, I think he’s taking it personally, and I feel awful. It completely cancels out the affection I’m trying to show him.
So the question for the Lemmy community is:
How do I discharge the static before I pat my dog? I have started shocking my partner (which he doesn’t like, but accepts over the alternative), before patting my dog. But as he’s out tonight, I have no human vessel to offer as tribute?
What can I touch in my house before patting my dog so that he doesn’t receive a shock?
Edit: standard Australian house and furniture
Another edit: I’m all the sheets to the wind so the engineering advice is not sinking in. But I’m loving the immediate response that I’d never have gotten on Deaddit.
Again: I can’t stop giggling at how helpful everyone is being and how short m, drunk and silly I am, in a house with apparently no metal
And again: I should probably take me and my baby to bed now, but a big thank you to everyone who replied. You’ve all been lovely. Lemmy is really a different space to ask these questions! I’ll be trying out many of your suggestions over the weekend; big thanks from me and my boy x
Final: thanks to everyone who responded. I did try the kitchen tap again last night and this time it worked! Mustn’t have built up enough charge when I tried the night I posted. I will still primarily zap my partner’s leg as it’s usually closer and doing it makes me laugh. It’s important he understands where he fits in the household hierarchy as well. I also learnt that American houses are very different (screws and radiators everywhere!) so that was interesting too.
I have no advice for you, as I live in a very humid place without very much risk of static shocks. I just want to say this question and post are hilarious.
Haha I admit to using a ragebait headline for attention
There might be a solution in their comment though, do you have a humidifier?
This is the way. My last place was so dry, I would get zapped touching the metal frame in my desk and reboot my PC. I installed a humidifier into the central heat, no more zaps!
Get a second dog which you pet before the other one?
I think this is my favourite suggestion
No metal? Get some Megadeath albums to fix that.
Here in the us there are certain fabric sprays that help with static buildup, so there might be some alternative over there in Australia.
A humidifier will also work but is pricier in comparison.
Lastly you can wrap a cover cable to your anke and burry the other side in the ground 😆
Does mumbling ‘the ace of spades’ to myself over and over work? Because I was already doing that due to playing cards earlier
Contrary to popular belief the metal is in the mustache, not the lyrics. I think there was a mythbuster episode about it or something
An while you’re at it get a band that’s not shit
I’ve read all the responses here and am horrified that you seem to live in an ungrounded plastic bubble. Is that a Canberra thing? Or can’t even find a small metal object the size of a coin to make discharging painless, how why?
If it’s an old house there should be tonnes of metal things to touch.
Corners of walls, radiators or central air vents or return air vents, screws on switches or power outlets, furniture with metal bits on it, sinks taps and water fixtures with metal parts, thermostat, fireplace casing.
Literally touch everything and report back.
Not an old houuse (2015 build), not sure if we have coins but I’ll check…
No vents in reach and certainly no radiators, no screws… No metal furniture… No screws… The sink didn’t work… No fireplace.
I’m not in Coober Pedy but may as well be it seems!
My partner has this problem a lot. The fridge zaps her pretty often (metal door and handle). There must be a metal surface somewhere on yours? Maybe the shelves? Or the stove / oven?
ETA: As a person who occasionally kicks my kitties when I go to the bathroom in the dark, I sympathize. It’s a terrible feeling when you startle or hurt them. Luckily, they seem to know that I’m a clumsy idiot and accept my immediate apologies.
If you have a desktop computer with a metal case, touch the case.
Go to the hardware store and buy a metal pipe to use as a walking stick
There’s really not a single screw holding the covers on your light switches?
Two suggestions: run a humidifier. Preferably use a steam one with distilled water. The ultrasonic cool mist ones introduce any minerals and bacteria that are in the water into the air.
The easiest suggestion is to change your blanket. I’m guessing you’re wrapping yourself in a fuzzy fleece blanket. Synthetic fibers like polyester transfer way more static charge than natural fibers. Try looking for a cotton or wool throw. Or for something fuzzy, find a sheep pelt with wool on it. Even using a cotton sheet between you and your current blanket should reduce the amount of charge buildup.
A side benefit of changing blanket materials, is that any blanket that generates a lot of static charge also holds loads of dust and pet hairs. A less static generating blanket will stay cleaner longer.
The easiest way to discharge is to touch a metal faucet. If you have copper pipes, they’ll be grounded, but even just the tap water is conductive enough to dissipate most of the charge.
If by any chance you have wall sockets with the ground connection exposed, you could touch that before petting the good boy/girl.
I am not well versed enough in electrical engineering to say if this is actually safe, but telling someone to stick their electrically charged fingers in a plug socket is probably the most hilarious response in this thread
Static electricity is unrelated to the danger of a socket.
Furthermore, all the exposed conductors on a socket built in the last 50+ years should be ground. Otherwise people (especially children) would kill themselves all the time. Modern plugs won’t even allow you to reach the live wire without pressing against both holes at once.
However North American plugs have an enormous design flaw, where half plugged-in appliances can expose current on the exposed pins of the plug (which is why modern plugs have a partial rubber coating).
I remember getting zapped like that when I was a child, unplugging an old lamp that didn’t have the coating on the plug. It was just a scare fortunately.
You don’t need to be versed in electrical engineering to know the basic fact that electrical sockets are impossible to hurt yourself with just by sticking your fingers near the holes
Not in Australia, but good suggestion in some other countries!
Same thing for radiators and their supply/return lines. Those should be grounded as well. Also the sink.
Anything conductive and grounded. For example, a lamp with a steel or copper body.
Hmm all cheap lamps in this basic bitch’s house
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Order a giant metal statue of your dog to put pride of place in your home as an apology to the dog
As a bonus, it will function as something you can touch to earth yourself
alternatively you could try an anti-static wrist strap but i’m not sure it’ll help since you still need something to ground it against
I like you
If you get the grounding box you can have an antistatic collar for the dog and a strap for the human. Plug both in and you’re both at the same potential.
Alternatively the human can touch the banana plug side of the strap, as the in-built resistor will “slowly” equalize the charges between you. I say slowly because in human terms as soon as you touch its already done.
The ugg boots may be electrically isolating as well, so a heel-strap is typically worn in ESD environments to overcome insulated soles. In combination with a grounding floor mat, this works without having to think too much about it.
Additionally, you can get a humidifier and maintain a relative humidity above 40%. Thankfully you don’t need insulation to do this!
Source: nasa esd training
I’ve lived in Denver for the past 15 years or so, this is a problem I relate to. If you live in a house or apartment with drywall, it turns out that the corners are made of metal under the plaster. For years I have discharged myself by bumping my forearms against the corner of a wall before flipping a light switch to avoid a painful shock on the tips of my fingers
Yeah wall corners are often metal and the paint on it seems to soften the discharge.
A stove, washing machine or other large electrical appliance with a metal case and grounding pin on the plug should work too. The chassis is connected to an earth ground.
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Hold your key’s metal part and touch some other metal that is earthed to discharge yourself.
By holding the key, you provide a way bigger surface area for transferring the charge, so it won’t hurt you.
How about a chain, mate? You can get one at Bunnings by the metre. You can place this somewhere convenient and touch it with the quarter as another commenter said. Not sure if carrying one in your pocket and casually dragging it on the floor would work.
Alternatively just stick a fork in a plant pot, that’ll do for grounded metal I hope
Hahaha this is the most confusing comment yet. Where are you???
Sydney I hope
No quarters in Canberra!
Neither here, try the house keys or any coin then, something’s gotta work
Straya for sure
A fork in a pot is definitely not a grounded earth connection. The electrical circuit needs to go back to the actual planet Earth.
A copper cold water pipe coming into the house from outside is a good choice, as are ground terminals on electrical equipment.
Buy a object like a lamp that has 3 prongs and exposed metal. Before you pet your dog touch the lamp. 3 prongs so thats it’s grounded.
Also when you touch your dog for the first time touch him on his body with you whole hand at once, it’ll spread the shock over a larger area and be less painful.
On the plus side, your dog must be convinced that you are a wizard. You need something to ground yourself on.
