(I thought about naming this post ‘Electricity in bed’)
I had a fever yesterday, and had an extra blanket on me when i slept to “help the fever” without draining my body of energy. Anyway, during the night, i was of course hot, I went up and had a glass of water. Then i decided that i did not need the extra blanket anymore, so i removed it.
When i removed the blanket there were sparks of static electricity and because it wast pitch black in the middle of the night they were really visible.
Big spots, from 5 to 10 cm^2, shone yellow on the surface of the felt blanket.
It made the same sound that you sometimes hear when you remove a woollen jumper.
18 Dec
Life! 
Posted by Mikael on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 13:58
Interesting! I’ve seen some tiny sparks a few times, but never anything like that. Don’t get that blanket near any RAM-modules! Maybe you could rub it up deliberately and take a photograph.
I found some appropriate illustrations:
http://www.resonanceresearch.com/bridge-fire-electrostatic-hands-on-display.htm
http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/van-de-graaff/index1.html#6
I had an exciting experience with static electricity myself last summer. My cousins have got a really big trampoline(!) in their back yard in Jakobstad. I was watering their flowers while they went to France, and so Anna and I had an chance to play with the trampoline. (I wonder what the neighbours thought.. Two 20-something-year-old strangers jumping around on their neighbours yard and laughing hysterically.) But I had no idea it had such an impressing side effect of building up static electricity! It’s probably because there is a plastic sleeve surrounding the edges, which is constantly rubbing against the flexing mat while you jump. It’s all non-conducting materials. And that leaves you charged too. But the charge did obviously NOT distribute evenly among the jumpers. Sparks really flew when we touched! 🙂 (There was an attracting force.)
Posted by Toffe on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 20:12
This is probably a “hot” topic, because i was asked to moderate this comment 🙂
The phenomena with the blanket was not “jumping sparks” but more like the surface was glowing. Perhaps the sparks just juped between the fur. But then the the glow was yellow, and in my experience static electricity is bluish.
Hmm. But… sparks in the air are blue, because tha atoms in the air are exited. perhats it was actually the fur atoms that started to glow. hence the yellowness. I have to take some photos. It was a syntetic furish feltlike blanket.
Posted by Tom on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 23:11
Yes. Perhats it was.
Posted by Toffe on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 21:12
And the phenomena occourred when i removed the blanket from the bed. It was twirled and tumbeled, and when i removed it it got stretched out and during the stretching the glowing started.
Posted by Eva H (som i Hauki) on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 16:18
Hällou!
Intressant fenomen du beskrev! Vardagen är fylld med
spänning, eller hur? Jag tänkte bara fråga om jag kan sätta dig på min blogg som en bloggare? Gud jul önskar jag dig!
Posted by Toffe on Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 20:41
Hej Eva. Välkommen. Visst får du länka hit. 🙂
om det är ok så sätter jag en länk till din blog härifrån också.
Posted by Eva on Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 10:54
Åff kåårs.
Posted by Erin-Rose on Monday, August 25, 2008 at 4:18
I was surprised i even got a result for my search on static electricity in blankets i had never seen such a thing until last night when i expierenced the phenomenon for myself, i had just put new sheets and doonas and my new cotton micofibre quilt on the bed i did not put a doona cover over it because i had an old doona on top because our new puppie was sleeping on the bed, any way about half an hour after going to bed i got up and saw a flash of white light i figured it was a reflection from the window and thought nothing more of it until i got back in and the flashes would be there every time i touched or rubbed the blanket. I was quite puzzled and also very concerened this could start a fire i ended up sleeping on the lounge. So i was very relieved it would be extremely rare for it to start a fire. Lets renew energy the blanket way. Erin
Posted by Toffe on Monday, August 25, 2008 at 7:09
At least according to http://www.iapa.ca/pdf/2004_feb_Static%20Electricity.pdf,
four conditions must be met in order for static electricity to be hazardous
1. There must be a means for a static charge to
develop.
2. Enough energy must build up to cause ignition.
3. There must be a discharge of this energy (a
spark).
4. The spark must occur in an ignitable vapour or
dust mixture.
Posted by Inibranilfurn on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 18:09
Terrific article. hope to definitely visit again=)
Posted by electro-city on Friday, June 5, 2009 at 3:29
I honestly thought I was the only one who experienced this! But I was in my bed in the pitch black when this happened to me as well!
Posted by dave on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 9:29
That exact same thing JUST happened to me and I had to google it right away on my Blackberry! I had two sheets on my bed. A fitted sheet and a cover sheet. I was moving around my bed when I felt a shock. Then I look towards my legs were it had came from and once I moved my legs again I saw a BUNCH “Multiple” silver shocks that looked like electricity! I don’t know how they came about and or how to prevent them again!
Posted by egypt on Sunday, January 16, 2011 at 22:03
Same thing happened to me, was staying at a hotel and tossed on two extra felt comferters next thing I know there was blue glowing sparks and popping sounds, looked like a mini lightening storm, scared me
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Posted by Christoph on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 16:04
I experienced this when I woke up during the early hours of this morning, at first I thought I had left my phone in the bed and the light was flashing to signal a call, (it was that bright). I quickly realised it was static and having decided it was unlikely to set anything on fire I set about deliberately causing it, this amused me for about 10mins, I had never seen anything like it, awesome!
Posted by Karen on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at 1:59
Last night turned over in bed in the dark my brand new white sheets had a blue lightning show running through them. Every time I moved it would zap me all over.
I woke up my husband to show him & it freaked him out so we got up and took the sheets off the bed. We watched in disbelief as blue light ran & danced through the sheets every time you touched or moved them & they were on the floor now. I have researched that so many fabrics are made from petrochemicals now & it I s really dangerous I suggest you all google. Static electricity mixed with petrochemicals sounds like a potential fire hazzard to me. We are getting our money back on the sheets & I need to do my homework & buy natural fibers but it’s very hard as companies do not have to declare this on labels stating fibre content. From experience one way to tell is smell the product – it will smell like fumes from the petrol station, and strong enough to make you cough & take your breath away. Its in blankets, sheets, jumpers, sleepwear and clothing, electrical appliances – its in my new dishwasher, clothes dryer but it’s TOXIC problem is its in everything & most people don’t know anything about it.
Posted by Janice Earliene Carr on Monday, January 26, 2015 at 0:43
I have just experience almost the same thing as Karen(above) this reply & similar to Christopher & Erin-Rose. I was shocked to discover others have had almost the same thing happened to them. My daughter had just changed covers 2 nights before on my bed, when I had gone to the bathroom ( noticing nothing before) in the middle of the night. When I came back to bed I noticed a light through the bottom blanket – thinking I had left my flashlight in the bed, I reached down to get it & NO FLASHLIGHT, but a long flash of light under the covers! Everytime I moved the cover the light would flicker everywhere I touched. It seemed like it was flashing EVERYWHERE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. I PUT THE BLANKET DOWN THINKING IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS A FLEECE BLANKET( (about 35 years old) to see if it would do the same on the TOP QUILT – SURE ENOUGH IT DID – EVERY WHERE, EVEN ON MY GOWN SLEEVES., HANDS,ARMS – ALL OVER! I have never seen anything like it in my life. I have had static electricity from touching blankets or clothes before, , but it only lasted a second. I I have seen a light flash from an electric socket before as well, but this was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE! Everything was off in the room – the T.V. Computer, phone & ALL. THE QUILT I BELIEVE WAS HOMEMADE & BBLANKET WAS given TO MY son-in law as a Child. So nothing was made from modern chemicals. No electric blankets either! EVERYTHING UNDER THE COVERS LOOKED LIKE WHITE LIGHTENTING FLASHING EVERY WHERE! I HOPE SOMEONE HAVE AN ANSWER FOR ME? Thanks in advance, Jan Carr
Posted by Janice Earliene Carr on Monday, January 26, 2015 at 1:06
FORGOT! It also GLOWED, STRETCHED, TUMBLED as well as continue getting LARGER at times! Jan
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Posted by unknown on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 16:35
Thanks guys for posting I thought i was tripping out when I was just laying in bed in the dark and I hit my arm down on my mattress protector and lots little lightning âš¡ bolts sparks happen all over my blanket, everytime I hit it and scrunch the blanket so many things ran through my brain, spontaneously combust during the night, paranormal? Electrical storm? Cant catch it on record but fark its weird
Posted by Imama on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 22:24
Omg this is happening to me too. I was actually scared for a while and searched it up on google but couldn’t find anywhere why this is happening.
This post actually gave me life as now i know there isn’t some deamon in my blanket 😂😂