We have studied the static electricity and optical retardation generated by rubbing the surfaces of polyimide (PI) and polyamide (PA) films. The static electricity increases with the Rubbing Strength (RS) and varies with the different PI films. We also investigated how the differences in the rubbing fabric affects the magnitude of the induced static electricity; the order of this effect is nylon > rayon > cotton. The induced static electricity is not only directly related to the values of the specific resistivity of the rubbed PI films, but also the RS and the ability of the rubbing fabric to generate and add a static electric charge. The order of the optical retardation produced by the rubbing fabric on rubbed PI films is nylon > rayon > cotton, coinciding with the order of the generated static electricity.