Is electrostatic charge on floor connected with slippage? I have some foam puzzle mats for sports in my flat. I noticed that every time I remove them after some days, the floor underneath where the mats were is very slippery. How is that? This is valid for the wooden and also the stone part of my floor.
My guess is that the puzzle mats are causing some kind of electrostatic charge buildup, but in what way and how is that connected to slippage?
My assumption: The puzzle mats become discharged and deposit electrons on the floor and, thus, reducing physical-chemical attractions between the floor and my feet.
Does that make sense?
 A: Electrostatic charge buildup is unlikely to be the cause of the slipperiness. Even if the floor did have a static charge, I think it would actually increase friction by a tiny amount, since it should (very slightly) attract your feet to the floor. This the same as if you charge a balloon by rubbing, it will stick to a wall or attract water due to polarization effects.
An increase in slipperiness when a puzzle mat is removed was mentioned on Reddit in 2017:

"Those interlocking foam mats when removed from the floor after a while leave the floor dangerously slippery. What is going on here? Microdirts? Oils?".

They reported that it took washing "with soapy water (3 passes) before danger level removed".
A second Reddit post in 2021 mentioned the same problem for a different kind of rubber mat:

"Bought this rubber mat and it left a weird slippery residue on the hardwood floor that makes walking around in socks super dangerous. Any idea on how to remove the residue. It's practically invisible and I can only detect it if I'm standing on the affected area."

They note how hard it is to see the residue.
It almost sounds as if the mats are polishing the floor.  It is plausible that walking (or doing sports) on the mats causes them to rub against the floor, perhaps polishing into the floor a waxlike residue from the mat.
