[Dakal The Fifth]

My sister and her family live in a condo building. Everyone on their floor gets shocked really badly after walking down the long carpeted floor and then touching the door handles. If you walk around her carpeted condo for a few minutes you get shocked once you touch a metal door handle. Sometimes it hurts real bad! I am not kidding! What can I do? She is 8 months pregnant and nervous about hurting her baby. Help!

[analogika]

Tell her to stop worrying. It's not a problem.

[Dakal The Fifth]

It is a problem. The shocks are PAINFUL. The other day a friend even fell over as she was not expecting it. So, any solutions?

[el chupacabra]

maybe spray some antistatic laundry stuff on the carpet. Are you by power lines or high voltage by any chance?

[analogika]

None really, other than to not wear rubber-soled shoes.

Learn to expect it. It's winter. The air is dry. Static discharge happens.

In places where I *know* I'm going to get shocked, it's easier to just briefly slap the metal piece before grabbing it - the quick slap gets the discharge over with.

[sknapp351]

Originally Posted by analogika 

Learn to expect it. It's winter. The air is dry. Static discharge happens.

In that case, would a humidifier help?
SAm

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by analogika 

None really, other than to not wear rubber-soled shoes.

Learn to expect it. It's winter. The air is dry. Static discharge happens.

In places where I *know* I'm going to get shocked, it's easier to just briefly slap the metal piece before grabbing it - the quick slap gets the discharge over with.

I do this also, usually making a fist and tapping my knuckles against the car door or a building/house door knob. The shock is barely noticeable this way, while getting a fingertip zapped can be very painful.

[Laminar]

I always hit the door frame of my car with my elbow to discharge the shock before I'll touch it with my hand.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

I do this also, usually making a fist and tapping my knuckles against the car door or a building/house door knob. The shock is barely noticeable this way, while getting a fingertip zapped can be very painful.

I do it the other way: hand opened wide, I put the entire palm on the surface I think is about to try to electrocute me. The larger the contact area, the less the shock is felt.

When in China (Beijing to be specific, where the air is as dry as [insert name of very dry wine here]), I always close cab doors with my elbow on the window pane, ’cause the static shocks are just unbelievable.

[stevesnj]

But seriously

How to Remove Static Electricity - wikiHow

How to Get Rid of Static

[Dakar the Fourth]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

I always hit the door frame of my car with my elbow to discharge the shock before I'll touch it with my hand.

Funny, I figured you'd use your tampon.

Sissy.

[phantomdragonz]

take a key, or any metal object with some surface area... and grasp it as fully as you can, use THAT to touch the handle first... I do this with my car keys when I get shocked... I dont feel a thing as long as I am fully grasping the key...

Zach

[JoshuaZ]

Do they have a cat? Pet the cat for a while and then touch its nose. Fun will ensue.

[Dave N]

Get about 50-100 feet of 18AWG speaker wire. Strip the insulation off of one end, then wrap that end around your ankle (or wrist, or whatever body part you want). Be sure that the bare wire is touching your skin. You may want to use some duct tape to secure it. Now strip the insulation off the other end of the wire and attach this to a cold water pipe. By law, cold water pipes are grounded. Viola -- problem is solved! You are now grounded and will no longer get shocked. The 50-100 feet of wire allows you (or your sister) to move about the condo freely.

Oh, and I'm talking about copper water pipe. If you have pvc or pex, then I don't know what you do...

[osiris]

A more convenient approach may be to simply have your sister move - preferably while she's not in labor.
congrats to your sister!