1,001 Uses for Dryer Sheets

OK, I won't really give you 1,001 uses for dryer sheets, but that heading sure got your attention, didn't it? Actually, the antistatic property of these sheets make them useful for a lot of purposes. Many of these even work with previously used sheets, so you can recycle them! Here are some of them:

• If you have flyaway hair, lightly rub a sheet on your hair, and it will lay flat. Or, you can rub the sheet on your brush or comb.
• If your clothes are sticking to you, rub the sheet on the inside of the fabric. No more static cling!
• Dusty television and computer screens are easily cleaned with dryer sheets.
• Got an iron with gunk on the bottom? Set the iron on low, and rub with a sheet.
• If you have pots and pans with burnt-on food, add a little water and a dryer sheet. They will be much easier to clean after they soak overnight.
• If you're trying to sew, and the thread keeps getting tangled, wrap a sheet around the thread and slide over the length.
• Dryer sheets will remove soap scum from glass shower doors.
• You can remove pet hair from clothes and furniture with a dryer sheet.
• Dryer sheets are great for picking up messes like sawdust and talcum powder.
• Rubbing dryer sheets on surfaces like window blinds help reduce dust buildup.
• Latex paint will come off paint brushes more readily if the brushes are first soaked in water with a dryer sheet.

That's eleven other antistatic uses! Not bad for a simple dryer sheet!

A Really Bad Hair Day

Electricity is a force that is created by electrons, tiny bits of negatively charged matter that are usually found in atoms and molecules. However, sometimes the electrons break free and create either current electricity or static electricity.

Current electricity is the kind we usually thing of, in which we get the power from a battery or from plugging into a wall outlet. Electrons flow from one place to another, like a river. We'll explore current electricity more later this month.

In static electricity, the electrons have no where to go, and they just pile up. When they are provided a path to flow through, they rush over all at once. If you have ever walked across a carpet floor, then gotten a nasty shock when you touched something metal, you've had a taste of static electricity. The girls in the photo at left are experiencing static electricity created by a van der Graaf generator (the silver dome in the background).

Here's a fast, simple experiment you can try that will demonstrate some basic ideas about static electricity.

What You'll Need:
Balloon
Facial tissue, torn into small pieces
Antistatic dryer sheet

Blow up the balloon and tie the end. Rub the balloon all over your head (unless you're bald, then find someone with hair!). Slowly pull the balloon away from your head. What happens to your hair? Do the individual hairs on your head stick together or fly away from one another? Place the balloon near the facial tissue bits. Do they react? Now rub the dryer sheet all over the balloon, and try to pick up your hair and the tissue pieces. What happens?