Static Electricity

[gcannon]

Does anyone else have trouble with static electricity; and if you do, what do you do to deal with it? The machines are stitching just fine, but I hate getting shocked every time I have to touch one.

[levelbest]

Get a humidifier. Run it while you are working. They are super cheap - probably $50-80 bucks at most unless you get a big one.

We run a supplimental one in addition to a whole house humidifier thats connected directly to our Heat/AC system.

[Steve]

Antistatic mats at office depot work just as well

[Rod or Sharon]

Another thing that may help is (if you are on carpeting) put a tablespoon of Downy in a spray bottle of water and mist the carpeting. Years ago when I worked in a bank, this is what we were taught to do to eliminate the static. Also something can can help a little bit is to spray a dust cloth with Static Guard and wipe your machine down periodically. Concrete floors are really bad.
Sharon

[gcannon]

Thanks- all of you. I think I will try the anti-static mats first, since I'm in a warehouse with concrete floors- the area is just too big to try to keep the humidity up with a humidifier.

[Rod or Sharon]

If you are asking whether I would prefer tile over concrete for flooring, I would take tile. However, if possible, do use a humidifier.

When we were working out of our home and had hardwood floors, we finally put a humidifier on our new furnace and it made a huge difference. If when you cut your thread and it "fluffs" at the bottom or comes untwisted, you have a humidy problem and are going to have a lot more thread breaks and issues sewing. The Downy trick works, or at least helps, if you have carpeting.

Sharon