Interesting stuff; I'm auditioning some cables that a guy out in OR is making. He uses cotton as insulation. He's a science guru, and he says that the problem with laying cables on the floor stems from the fact that the cable insulation (teflon etc.) is synthetic. The carpet in many (most) homes is also synthetic, which is where he says the problems stem. His proof of this is that if I'm wearing cotton, and slide myself across the synthetic carpet, I won't produce static electricity. Therefore, he claims that his cables can safely lay on the floor. It sounds like a lot of people are using plastic or some other synthetic product to elevate their cables. Does what he's saying make sense? I'm not a science guru, so I'm at the mercy of others. My system rests on a large wool rug, so by his theory I could lay synthetically insulated cables on it also. It seems to me, that if cotton is such great insulator, why isn't anyone else using it?
