Vent: My string lights tangled disaster last Saturday, still not over it

I spent 3 hours untangling 200 feet of patio string lights that I stored in a cardboard box over winter, and by the end my back was killing me and half the bulbs were dead. The cheap plastic clips I used to hang them also snapped in the heat, so now I'm looking at replacing the whole setup. Has anyone found a storage method that actually keeps these things from becoming a knotted mess every spring?

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1 Comment

alex_hall911mo ago

Wrap each bulb in a little piece of bubble wrap before you coil the string up, that way the wires don’t twist around the bulbs so much. Then use a long piece of string or a velcro strap every few feet to tie the coil loosely, like a figure eight, and hang the whole thing on a hook in the garage instead of cramming it in a box. The loose ties keep the loops from tangling when you pull it out, and hanging it lets gravity do the work for you. I also label the end with the plug so I know which side to start uncoiling from, saves me a headache every spring. Honestly, the real fix is spending a bit of time on storage now so you’re not fighting it later, that’s the lesson I learned the hard way.