Q: Why do some cars build up a lot of static electricity and
others don’t?
Q: Why do some cars build up a lot of static electricity and others don’t?
A: According to experiments conducted by Catie Marron, a presenter at the 2003 California State Science Fair, it’s all in the fabric.
Static electricity is created as a driver’s clothing rubs against the fabric of the seat, building up a static charge that zaps the driver when he or she climbs out of the car or touches a metal object like a fuel pump.
Marron tested clothing materials like wool, cotton, polyester, nylon and silk by rubbing a balloon across the fabric 10 times.
She then observed their static electric attraction to different types of car seats, including leather, vinyl and cloth interiors.
Car owners are least likely to experience a shock if they drive a car with vinyl seats and have a penchance for wearing polyester, Marron found.
But for those of us living in an era beyond 1975, it’s a shocking time. Leather car seats, a popular option in luxury car models, caused the highest levels of static attraction in seat cloth.
For drivers, wearing 100 percent wool or silk also increased static shocks more than any other fabric.
