5 of the easiest way to retailer Christmas lights
Figuring out the easiest way to retailer Christmas lights after taking down your festive decor is vital to avoiding tangles and pointless harm to your lights.
Whereas the most effective synthetic Christmas timber could be saved in baggage, it may be troublesome to know how one can retailer lights to forestall them from getting knotted. But it surely’s essential to maintain yours tangle-free, in an effort to make adorning subsequent December fast and simple, and to make it much less probably on your LED bulbs to interrupt off or go lacking.
For fast and simple options to the issue there are a few easy strategies you possibly can attempt and so they all contain utilizing gadgets you probably have already got at dwelling. This won’t solely enhance your gentle upkeep but additionally make getting the Christmas lights out a lot simpler subsequent yr.
Finest methods to retailer Christmas lights
Contents
- 1 Finest methods to retailer Christmas lights
- 2 1. Use a garments hanger
- 3 2. Wrap lights round a cable winder
- 4 3. Use cardboard items
- 5 4. Attempt utilizing cling movie
- 6 5. Retailer them in a container
- 7 The place is the most effective place to retailer Christmas lights?
- 8 Is it okay to retailer Christmas lights within the storage?
- 9 Are you able to recycle Christmas lights?
Earlier than you start to pack away your lights, Christmas tree stylist Debi Storan advises: “if in case you have any decorations with batteries, take away them earlier than storage. Battery acid can leak and can destroy the contacts, and your ornament might not work. This is applicable not solely to gentle units, however lit Christmas wreaths, garlands and festive desk decorations too.”
It is also value checking your lights earlier than adorning once more subsequent yr too, as broken batteries could be particularly harmful if used with actual Christmas timber.
You will discover that the frequent theme throughout the strategies under is that the majority of them contain wrapping your lights to retailer them (versus bunching them). That is the principle approach to any technique of storing Christmas lights that nicely assist keep away from tangles sooner or later.
1. Use a garments hanger
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If you could put your lights away rapidly, you need to use a clothes hanger. Ideally, hangers with indents on both facet might be most useful for grip, serving to to keep away from the wires sliding off.
Methods to retailer your Christmas lights this fashion:
- Begin by wrapping the lights round one facet of the hanger.
- Safe one finish of the lighting wire with some tape (duct tape is particularly sturdy and never prone to come off) and maintain wrapping round to the opposite facet of the hanger till you get to the plug.
- Safely safe the opposite facet with extra tape.
- If you’re completed, you possibly can merely retailer them in a cabinet or on any spare rail in your house
2. Wrap lights round a cable winder
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Utilizing a cable winder (or a reel) is a very simple option to maintain your lights neat and tidy. All you could do is wind your lights as neatly as attainable across the system, for an ultra-neat storage resolution. This may assist you keep away from tangles—and better of all, it is a compact possibility too, as they will then simply be tucked away on a shelf.
For those who do not have already got a cable winder at hand, we might advise getting one with grips on both facet, to maintain your Christmas lights in place as a lot as attainable. And, it is value noting that a few of the finest Christmas tree storage baggage additionally include winders, in case you’re trying to make a 2-in-1 buy.
3. Use cardboard items
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In case you have been about to discard any cardboard packaging that got here along with your not too long ago acquired presents or Christmas hampers, you could need to rethink.
Cardboard could be a good way to retailer lights, whereas permitting you to repurpose and recycle the field itself. And if you have no typical cardboard supply packing containers, Becky Tasker, PR Supervisor at Lights4fun, factors out that even a cereal field could be useful.
Right here’s how one can do it:
- Take a sq. or rectangular piece of cardboard—you solely want one flat facet.
- Minimize small incisions on both facet of the piece of cardboard. Alternatively, relying on the size of lights, your cardboard could be minimize into an ‘H’ form.
- Seize one finish of your lights and start slowly wrapping it across the cardboard. If in case you have opted for smaller cuts both facet, be certain that your gentle is safe inside the slots earlier than you begin wrapping.
- If you would like additional safety on your lights, you could possibly at all times put bubble wrap or tissue paper on prime of your completed wrapped cardboard too, as an additional precaution.
4. Attempt utilizing cling movie
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It could not have been your first thought, however cling movie can be utilized to wrap away your festive lights too.
First, roll out your cling movie, after which proceed to unfold your lights out on prime. Loosely group them collectively within the heart of the movie, and begin rolling your movie horizontally till the lights are all wrapped up. The tight cling movie will maintain your lights safe, and also will present padding to guard the lights from harm whereas they’re saved away.
5. Retailer them in a container
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Among the finest methods to retailer Christmas lights safely for subsequent yr is to position them in a container. Nevertheless, you’ll nonetheless have to wind them round one thing earlier than placing them away – keep in mind, by no means bunch!
Whereas you need to use a woven or cotton basket to retailer Christmas lights, we suggest placing your lights in a water-resistant field with a sealed lid. This manner they’re protected against damp, water harm, mud and different hazards that may trigger your lights to deteriorate over time.
We might advise storing them someplace that is simple to get to, so that you’re prepared to brighten a Christmas tree like an expert subsequent yr.
The place is the most effective place to retailer Christmas lights?
To be able to benefit from your lights for years to come back, there are a selection of issues to keep in mind when you think about the easiest way to retailer Christmas lights.
You need to first be certain that to place them someplace dry, in an space that does not repeatedly expertise damp. “Ideally suited locations to retailer all vacation decorations together with lights can be climate-controlled rooms. Storage amenities which have year-round local weather management are additionally good,” feedback Storan.
One other good tip is to retailer them in a spot the place they will not be repeatedly disturbed. Storan advises: “attempt to place all vacation gadgets someplace the place they will not be moved a number of instances. The much less they’re dealt with, the less alternatives there might be for something to get broken.”
Is it okay to retailer Christmas lights within the storage?
With the proper storage options in place, Christmas lights can completely be saved within the storage. One of the best ways to retailer Christmas lights is to place them someplace protected and dry.
“To finest defend your lights within the storage, an hermetic container is the best storage resolution,” says Storan. “You do not need to appeal to moisture from basements or garages entering into containers, creating mildew.”
If storing your lights in a storage, you have to be conscious of what it’s subsequent to, or usually round—as a substance similar to mildew may cause the paint to come back off your lights, for instance.
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Are you able to recycle Christmas lights?
Though you would possibly know the easiest way to retailer Christmas lights to maintain yours in good situation, there comes some extent when it is time to say goodbye to the set you’ve got had for years if the cable begins to deteriorate or the lights break.
As an alternative of merely throwing them within the trash, it is value noting that you would be able to recycle Christmas lights. Recycling them is easy—all you could do is take them to your native family waste recycling heart, and be sure you put them within the acceptable part (often that is the small electricals part).
In case your nonetheless love your festive lights however they seem to have damaged over the previous couple of months, it is value studying how one can repair Christmas lights first earlier than throwing them out.
With because of Debi Storan, Companion at Dr Christmas, a festive tree styling enterprise, and Becky Tasker, PR Supervisor at Lights4fun, for sharing their experience and time for this piece.
