Safe,practical way to store your christmas lights

cabra1

Someone showed me years ago how to store
away Christmas lights,hope some of you find
this useful

lay out the first few lights like this

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j266/bagpuss111/xxxx/xls/x1.jpg

then hold them in your hand like so and
add the rest as shown

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j266/bagpuss111/xxxx/xls/x2.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j266/bagpuss111/xxxx/xls/x3.jpg

once you have gathered them all in
wind the excess flex round the middle

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j266/bagpuss111/xxxx/xls/x4.jpg

the advantage of gathering them like this
just before you store them away you can
plug them in to check all the bulbs are working.
Its far easier to manage

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j266/bagpuss111/xxxx/xls/x5.jpg

like this the bulbs will fit into a shoe box
or airtight tub ready for next christmas.Also
when you unwind them to re use them you will
find the flex is nice and straight with no kinks
or folds and no untangling of lights.

Lizzieanne

Brilliant! I usually spend ages each December, untangling the lights...I did wind them around an old wrapping paper tube one year, which was only partially successful.

glendam

Thanks thats great I am taking mine down today and will do it that way.

Glenda

li'l_p

That's how my Mum showed me to do mine the other day. I had pulled them all off the tree in a great bundle (...two sets) so they were all very tangled. We set for about 20 minutes untangling them and then wrapped them exactly how you've shown. They've gone into my container nice and tidy so I won't have the added stress of untangling come December!

:T

ikkleosu

I wrap them round the inner cardborad core from a finished roll of wrapping paper.

Kimmywim

ikkleosu wrote:

I wrap them round the inner cardborad core from a finished roll of wrapping paper.

me too!:beer:

Chrisca50

Bum - I just cleared all mine away about an hour ago - haven't got the energy to get them all out now. It's a wonderful idea though, hope I can remember how to do it this time next year

lil_me

Not allowed to tie them like that in my house, DP qualified in electrical engineering and says damages the cables tying them up too tightly or with too many 'kinks' in them. Wrap them round a tube etc is allowed as long as not too tight bit of sticky tape on the tube where it starts and finishes usually keeps them right.

jopsey

lil_me wrote:

Not allowed to tie them like that in my house, DP qualified in electrical engineering and says damages the cables tying them up too tightly or with too many 'kinks' in them. Wrap them round a tube etc is allowed as long as not too tight bit of sticky tape on the tube where it starts and finishes usually keeps them right.

me too and I can't say" that bulb has gone" without getting a reply of bulb's grow in the garden don't you mean lamps? ... does it matter

*Louise*

I have a pre-lit tree, so I just fold up the branches and put it in it's box:D

But great idea - and nice of to to take the trouble to post it:T