Bleach lightning

Reckitt Benckiser and the University of Southampton have a way to put more muscle into household cleaning fluids such as scouring cream and bleach (GB 2377191). The trigger of their aerosol spray also rubs a small insulated plastic disc against a conductive metal plate. This generates an electrostatic charge on the metal plate, which is connected to a ring round the aerosol nozzle. The charged ring in turn induces a charge in the aerosol droplets as they leave the nozzle. The charged droplets are then attractedto – and stick tight to – any surface they hit. The same system can…