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Post by monklady123 on Dec 14, 2023 18:12:26 GMT
How do you store your lights so that they come off whatever it is untangled? I have mine wrapped around cardboard thingies but when I start taking them off they immediately become hopelessly tangled.  There are a couple of funny cartoons I see going around this time of year where someone has hung a tangled mass of lights on his tree, or hanging outside from the gutter. Well I literally just did that with one bush. Some lights are strung properly and the rest are in a tangled ball. We will see what it looks like once it gets dark. So how do you store your lights? And do you had a solution for unrolling them that keeps them untangled as you put them on the bushes? Please.  |
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Post by malibou on Dec 14, 2023 19:23:41 GMT
I'm sorry I'm giggling about the tangled mess in your bush. (Great, now I'm really giggling about the sentence I just wrote).
I truly do hope that it looks deliberate or that you're fine with it anyway!
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Post by monklady123 on Dec 14, 2023 19:29:33 GMT
I'm sorry I'm giggling about the tangled mess in your bush. (Great, now I'm really giggling about the sentence I just wrote). I truly do hope that it looks deliberate or that you're fine with it anyway! Ha! I'll take a photo this evening and post it. hahaha |
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,156 
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Post by lindas on Dec 14, 2023 21:45:28 GMT
I use these light reels, link. They really helped cut down on the tangled mess I used to have. |
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Post by monklady123 on Dec 14, 2023 22:11:19 GMT
I use these light reels, link. They really helped cut down on the tangled mess I used to have. So when you go to put up the lights the next year how do you do it? I mean, how do you manipulate the big reel around bushes and tree limbs? Or do you have a magic way of take the strings off without getting them tangled? |
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Post by femalebusiness on Dec 14, 2023 22:28:24 GMT
I usually just toss them all out and buy new.  |
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Post by monklady123 on Dec 14, 2023 22:42:39 GMT
I usually just toss them all out and buy new.  I was SO tempted to do just that this afternoon, except that I already had some up.  |
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,156
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Post by lindas on Dec 14, 2023 22:54:14 GMT
I use these light reels, link. They really helped cut down on the tangled mess I used to have. So when you go to put up the lights the next year how do you do it? I mean, how do you manipulate the big reel around bushes and tree limbs? Or do you have a magic way of take the strings off without getting them tangled? Bushes are easy, I just walk around unwinding as I go. I don’t do tree limbs so can’t help you there. I would guess that’s a 2 person job, one to hold the reel and one to string the lights. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 15, 2023 5:23:11 GMT
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Post by Zee on Dec 15, 2023 7:31:34 GMT
Unwrap them as you hang them, don't take them off first and they don't have a chance to get tangled up in a ball. Before you start, plug them in to check for outages.
If they don't all light up, throw away and get new ones. I know you can replace bulbs or fuses or whatever but that's...hard.
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Post by monklady123 on Dec 15, 2023 11:57:47 GMT
Okay... I just ordered a 4-pack of those.  The only problem I've had with winding them in the past is that you have to wind them backwards so that the plug end comes off first. At least for the way I do my lights I have to have it that way. I put the first string on and then connect the second string to the end of the first string, so I need to begin with the very first string's plug end so I can see where I am. If that even makes sense. |
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Post by gramasue on Dec 15, 2023 13:46:08 GMT
When you mentioned seeing a funny cartoon about tangled lights, the first one that came to my mind is the one that shows just a huge ball of tangled lights with the caption "Nailed it". I laugh every time I think of it.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 15, 2023 13:58:59 GMT
Okay... I just ordered a 4-pack of those.  The only problem I've had with winding them in the past is that you have to wind them backwards so that the plug end comes off first. At least for the way I do my lights I have to have it that way. I put the first string on and then connect the second string to the end of the first string, so I need to begin with the very first string's plug end so I can see where I am. If that even makes sense.  I mentioned in the other thread about lights that I don’t wind the lights around and around the tree. When I put the lights on, I start at the top and go back and forth across the front 2/3 or 3/4 of the tree in a zig zag pattern. By doing it that way it makes it WAY easier to put the lights on and to take the lights off of the tree and wind them back onto those storage things because I can start winding from the top (non plug end) of the tree and work my way down the same way I put them on instead of starting at the bottom (plug end) and working my way up. |
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Post by monklady123 on Dec 15, 2023 14:49:48 GMT
Okay... I just ordered a 4-pack of those. The only problem I've had with winding them in the past is that you have to wind them backwards so that the plug end comes off first. At least for the way I do my lights I have to have it that way. I put the first string on and then connect the second string to the end of the first string, so I need to begin with the very first string's plug end so I can see where I am. If that even makes sense. I mentioned in the other thread about lights that I don’t wind the lights around and around the tree. When I put the lights on, I start at the top and go back and forth across the front 2/3 or 3/4 of the tree in a zig zag pattern. By doing it that way it makes it WAY easier to put the lights on and to take the lights off of the tree and wind them back onto those storage things because I can start winding from the top (non plug end) of the tree and work my way down the same way I put them on instead of starting at the bottom (plug end) and working my way up. Makes sense. Except we have a pre-lit tree and my lights are for the outside. |
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Post by librarylady on Dec 15, 2023 14:57:41 GMT
I bought the large reels and wind them up on the reel. These are long strings of lights that decorate our picket fence.
I have written myself a note that tells me where to start hanging the lights.
After one goof up, I remember to wind them so that the correct end is at the outside of the reel.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 15, 2023 15:31:50 GMT
I mentioned in the other thread about lights that I don’t wind the lights around and around the tree. When I put the lights on, I start at the top and go back and forth across the front 2/3 or 3/4 of the tree in a zig zag pattern. By doing it that way it makes it WAY easier to put the lights on and to take the lights off of the tree and wind them back onto those storage things because I can start winding from the top (non plug end) of the tree and work my way down the same way I put them on instead of starting at the bottom (plug end) and working my way up. Makes sense. Except we have a pre-lit tree and my lights are for the outside. Would work the same on outside trees and bushes too unless you’re just running them in a line. |
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Post by librarylady on Dec 15, 2023 17:52:40 GMT
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Post by JustCallMeMommy on Dec 15, 2023 18:09:56 GMT
My favorite lights came on a reel which I kept. I just roll them up at the end of the season and they are untangled the next year.
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Post by lurker on Dec 15, 2023 18:17:37 GMT
My solution? Don't put out any lights.
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Post by malibou on Dec 15, 2023 18:54:06 GMT
My solution? Don't put out any lights. Me too! |
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