Home | Home Improvement Tips | Storing Christmas Lights
Here is a helpful list from housekeeping.com on how to store Christmas lights, without them getting all tangled for next year!
- Cardboard- Recycle some of the cardboard that you received with gifts or from boxes in the mail for this do-it-yourself Christmas lights storage project. Cut some heavy pieces of cardboard into a rectangle that is about 12 inches by 6 inches, it doesn’t need to be exact. Take a pair of heavy duty scissors and cut a notch on one side so you can hook one end of the lights into the notch. Then, start wrapping the lights around the cardboard. When you are done wrapping you can check to see where the end of your cord is and then cut another notch along the side to attach the end of the cord. Recycle used tissue paper from gifts to use as padding that you need between the layers of lights. This way the lights will stay tangle free and not get broken.
- Use a power cord holder- There are many different cord holders on the market, but you will want to look for the ones that are for the big outdoor electrical cords. Wind the Christmas lights up on the cord holder so that you can hang them on hooks on the wall in the garage instead of throwing them into boxes. If the cord holder is big enough, just keep plugging the lights into each other and keep winding. Now most or all of your lights are all in one place safe and sound for next year.
- Wire zip ties- Your answer to keeping Christmas lights tangle free might be wire zip ties. Zip ties are inexpensive, so it won’t matter if you need new ones every year. Wind the light string around the palm of your hand and your elbow, wrapping the string in a circle. Take zip ties and secure the lights in 3 places. Place each string into a bag to keep the bulbs from banging into each other.
- Zip top bags- Plug the male end of the cord into the female end of the same cord and loosely place the light string into a quart or gallon sized zip top bag. The string won’t become tangled and it will stay clean because it’s zipped up tight. The bag will protect the bulbs from banging against other strings as well.
- Pringles can- Recycle chip cans for your light storage. Cut a hole in the top for one end of the cord and then snap the lid onto the can. Wrap the light string around the chip can going all the way to the bottom and then back up to the top. Maneuver it so that the end of the cord can be stuck into the lid as well. The lights will be tangle-free and you can stand up multiple strings of lights in a bigger box or container. If you are worried about bulbs crashing into each other in the box, you can lightly wrap tissue paper around the wound up lights before you set them in the storage bin.
Thank you to Housekeeping.com for the original article.
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