# Untangling Xmas tree lights **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167 "2013-11-30T23:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/1 "2013-11-30T23:02:25Z")
I just spent FOUR HOURS untangling several strings of lights. I don’t know how I got them in such a mess, but I have to do this every year. I swear, this year I’m taking them down separately and orderly. I think I remember saying the same thing every year, but it always turns into a rat’s nest of wires. But I have to admit, the final result is always spectacular! I know I said “Xmas tree,” but it’s actually an “Atheist tree.” ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/2 "2013-11-30T23:11:14Z")
Save your empty wrapping paper rolls and use them to coil the lights as you take them off the tree. Have you done your house yet? We did those lights today. I love holiday lights and I’ll bet your tree is wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/3 "2013-11-30T23:18:00Z")
Be glad its not the golden days of Christmas lights when if one bulb was out they all went out. My fathers words were more colorful than the lights. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/4 "2013-11-30T23:25:36Z")
[Blame the universe!](http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2008/01/knot_theory_why_everything_tan.html) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/5 "2013-11-30T23:26:07Z")
Blame it on [entropy](http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2008/01/knot_theory_why_everything_tan.html). Dammit! Ninja’d by **beowulff**. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/6 "2013-12-01T02:12:26Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > Be glad its not the golden days of Christmas lights when if one bulb was out they all went out. > My fathers words were more colorful than the lights. More like the dark days. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/7 "2013-12-01T02:20:25Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > Be glad its not the golden days of Christmas lights when if one bulb was out they all went out. > My fathers words were more colorful than the lights. I remember back in the 50s, when the bulbs were so hot, you could seriously burn yourself or start a fire. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/8 "2013-12-01T02:46:01Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I remember back in the 50s, when the bulbs were so hot, you could seriously burn yourself or start a fire. The blue ones were especially hot. We used to melt the tinsel on them. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/9 "2013-12-01T03:01:27Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The blue ones were especially hot. We used to melt the tinsel on them. That’s interesting, I suppose the darker the bulb the more energy it’s absorbing whereas a clear bulb is transmitting most of the energy right through the glass. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/10 "2013-12-01T03:57:47Z")
I usually just take the lights down and throw them in the tub with all the other ornaments. I’ve never spent more than 10 minutes untangling them. I must have a strange knack. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/11 "2013-12-01T04:21:56Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s interesting, I suppose the darker the bulb the more energy it’s absorbing whereas a clear bulb is transmitting most of the energy right through the glass. Bulbs are darker simply because they’ve [sucked up more darkness](http://www.rogermwilcox.com/darksuck.txt). This explains the heat: > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Roger M. Wilcox** > Dark has mass. When dark goes into a Dark Sucker, friction from > the mass generates heat. Thus, it is not wise to touch an operating > Dark Sucker ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/12 "2013-12-01T04:32:06Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Bulbs are darker simply because they’ve [sucked up more darkness](http://www.rogermwilcox.com/darksuck.txt). This explains the heat: I’ve managed to explain to enough people about how cold is the absence of heat, freezers don’t introduce cold but actually remove heat yadda yadda yadda. In fact just the other day I explained to an employee that the metal and the concrete in the room are actually the same temperature as the air even though they don’t feel like it.\*. Given that, many of these same people would probably readily believe this (or stop believe what I told them before). \*He had a very legitimate question. I had an IR thermometer I was playing with and he wanted to know why it read the surface of what I was pointing it at and not the air in front of it. While his question was still valid as asked, it wasn’t what he meant to ask since in that particular room everything was the same temperature. I’m pretty sure I blew his mind when I explained to him why things like metal and concrete in a 60 degree room feel colder then the air which then got us into the concept of wind chill… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/13 "2013-12-01T07:20:26Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Save your empty wrapping paper rolls and use them to coil the lights as you take them off the tree. Yep, it’s a [genius idea](http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/get-organized-everyday-items-10000001106576/page10.html) that is so simple it’s amazing we don’t all think of it independently. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/14 "2013-12-01T16:44:52Z")
You could also use one of those reels for electric cords. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/15 "2013-12-01T18:22:38Z")
Put them away properly. It’s the only solution. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/16 "2013-12-01T23:08:02Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Yep, it’s a [genius idea](http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/get-organized-everyday-items-10000001106576/page10.html) that is so simple it’s amazing we don’t all think of it independently. How very cool, I thought up something smart all by myself for once 🙂 Thank you! Anyhow, I don’t think it would work very well to stuff holiday lights into them, so I coil the lights around the outside of the tube. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/17 "2013-12-02T01:12:03Z")
You call it entropy. I call it the utter depravity and perversity of inanimate objects. Different names for the same thing. 😉 For strings, it’s _really_ easy to just fanfold the string with lights on either side of your hand as you fold it up, and then use a wrap tie to tie it up, or just wrap the end of the cord around and plug it into itself at the other end. The square net/web types of lights are a bit trickier, but easier to manage overall. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/18 "2013-12-02T06:22:29Z")
I just quit using lights. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/19 "2013-12-02T07:48:47Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I just spent FOUR HOURS untangling several strings of lights. > [@flatlined](#): > > Save your empty wrapping paper rolls and use them to coil the lights as you take them off the tree. Or take a hunk of cardboard, cut V-shqaped notches in it top and bottom, and coil the lights on that as you take them down. Or just hire a neighborhood for $20 to take all the lights down, coil them all neatly, and box them for storage. It’s certainly worth that to save you from 4 hours of frustration! And it provides useful work for them. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167/20 "2013-12-02T08:40:15Z")
Tree lights are disposable. Throw them out with the tree and get new ones from the Dollar store next year. I’ve been threatening to do that for a long time. 😛 One of these years I’ll do it. 😉 The lights on the house are too expensive to pitch out each year. I use those plastic cord holders to wrap them onto. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/untangling-xmas-tree-lights/675167.md?page=2)