need an anti-static miracle cure for cotton fabric!
 

My sister recently asked me to sew together, and then hem, a large piece of quilting cotton to make a table cloth for her sales table at several upcoming craft shows. (She makes some really marvelous glass items with a flaming torch.)

She pre-washed it, and dried it, and I sewed as directed. All is well there, but it's debut at her first craft show today was marred by an astonishing amount of fuzz and threads (and downright lint) accumulating on the front section where people were brushing against it as they looked at her items.

Some of it was identifiable as yarn fuzz from a nearby table selling hand spun yarn. But the rest of it was just stuff leaping off of the crowd, and embedding itself in her table cloth! We are thinking that the cloth is overly prone to static somehow. She had to walk around the front of the table and pick it clean several times!

Is there a trick to prevent this? Fabric softener? Isn't there an anti-static spray available? I seem to have some memory of something like that, but does it really work? Ideally something with out a strong smell, as she is sensitive to such things.

Any suggestions will be mightily appreciated!

Fabric softener is the only thing I can think of. I imagine it will take a few washings to be effective. I am curious to know if you can purchase unscented fabric softener. I have never thought about it.

There is also an anti-static spray. Don't know if it is unscented though. I thought there is an unscented fabric softener out there.

You can purchase unscented fabric softener, that is what I use.

Annababy I am allergic to scented fabric softeners so there are unscented ones out there

A little of that fabric softener mixed with water and put in a spray bottle makes a very effective static spray.

I was thinking of the Static Cling spray.

A lint roller would come in handy.

I remember there was a spray we used to use on our slips (giving away my age) to keep the dress or skirt from clinging when we walked. Don't remember the name, sorry. If her craft show continues tomorrow, perhaps she could rub the front part of her display with a softener sheet. It might help. Ann

You can buy Static Guard in a spray. I use it to give a light spray to my hairbrush (best tip ever), car door handles, on my Go dies, anywhere I don't want static. It's unscented I guess, I've never smelled any scent from it.

krafty14, I used to take a softener sheet & rub it on the inside of my skirt & on my slip to keep the skirt from clinging. Oh, you brought back fine memories. :)

Static spray works. I keep fabric softener sheets in my purse for those static-y hair days, my SIL was amazed when she saw me pull it out and wipe my hair down. She always thought her flyaway hair was because her hair was dry, but a wipe with a sheet fixed it. In a pinch, I've also used hair conditioner as a fabric softener rinse in my washing machine.

Static spray works. I keep fabric softener sheets in my purse for those static-y hair days, my SIL was amazed when she saw me pull it out and wipe my hair down. She always thought her flyaway hair was because her hair was dry, but a wipe with a sheet fixed her right up. In a pinch, I've also used hair conditioner as a fabric softener rinse in my washing machine.

I used to use a cotton tablecloth when I did craft shows-----but I spent more time washing & ironing it. I finally switched to crushed panne......it's an inexpensive looking velvet. You literally can roll it in a ball & it doesn't look wrinkled--and drapes beautifully! Just a thought......

If you rub hand cream into your hands and then stroke over fabric it makes it anti static, I do this to my tights when some of my dresses cling. It can also happen if the carpet in the room she is in is nylon. It transmits the static from people walking on it to their clothes and will then transfer to anything they brush against

I love Static Guard. It is sometimes hard to locate in the store. I usually find it on a top shelf in the laundry aisle. Store employees often have never heard of it. I keep a can at home and one in my locker at school as static in my clothes makes me nuts. I also use either Downy fabric softener or Bounce sheets in the dryer. Good luck. I guess she could also carry a lint roller.

I have fine hair and from time to time I have a problem with static. My life would be miserable without Static Guard. Like Onebyone I spray it in my brush and it tames my hair. I buy it in the laundry department of Target.

There is a spray Static Guard that I use to keep my skirts and pants from sticking to me in the winter. I bet it would work for this and it is simple. You spray it on like hair spray while the cloth is on the table.

OK! Thanks! I have shared these responses with my sister and she is going to wash it at least once with fabric softener between now and next weekend's show, and also invest in a can of Static Guard. But I really like the idea of the "crushed panne"! I am going to promote that idea heavily. The fabric we are fighting with over this static situation does indeed wrinkle horribly.

My sister and I have considered the possibility that while agonizing over the selection of this fabric, we somehow offended the ladies in the fabric store....and that they might have cursed us in our future endeavors with the dang blasted stuff. In the interest of brevity during my original post I chose not to mention the epic wrinkle problem, AND the fact that, despite our careful math, we somehow bought about 4 yards too much. At this point, I am concerned about buying the excess from her and using it in my own projects...maybe some magical herbs will help?:rolleyes:

I remember using hair spray for this. Talk about dating myself.
Sandy

Sandy, I remember using hairspray for that too, and clear fingernail polish for the runs in our nylons.

ROFL! The dreaded curse of the sales personnel!
Sounds like you translated feet to yards when purchasing the fabric.

Static Guard. I also remember using hairspray on my slip (went to private school and had to wear skirt or dress every day) and did the clear nail polish thing on runs in my hose. I should've bought stock
in Sally Hansen and Adorn!

Hair spray.

Good to know that Static Guard works on cutting dies, I had a huge amount of static when using my Sizzix today.