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Hacks to Detangle your Earphones [INFOGRAPHIC]

How frustrating is it when your pair of earphones gets tangled? As soon as you put them down, somehow they thread themselves into an awful mess! And don’t even think about putting them into your pocket. How do earphones get so knotted in such a short space of time and how can we prevent it?

Wrapping up your earbuds always ends up being an ordeal and they sometimes come undone in your bag or get even more tangled. Here’s a few life hacks for wrapping up your earphones and saving you from that frustration.

1. The Hook-em Method

This involves wrapping your earphones in a figure-8 pattern using your first finger and little finger as guides. Then you wrap the end up in the middle and stick the earphone jack through the loops you just made to secure it. This method doesn’t require any special tools other than your hands, and it’s an effective way to keep your earphones from unraveling, but might take take a few tries to get right.

2. Binder Clip

These make for great cable-management tools. You can use them to hold your wrapped earphones in place so they don’t get tangled up in your bag, or use it as the actual wrapping device. Just slap on the binder clip near the earpiece end and begin wrapping the cord around the two metal arms. Use it as a cable shortener and clip it onto your backpack for hassle-free listening. When you’re done, you can take the headphone jack and feed it through the wider opening of the arms to keep it all in place. This method is very versatile, but it takes up space, so you won’t be able to just slide them in and out of your pocket.

3. Earphone braid

If braiding is your thing, you can braid a friendship bracelet around your earphones to make them tangle-free using just some regular string. Braided earphones not only look cool, but can prevent any tangles from occurring in the first place. However, it does take a lot of time, so if you want braided earphones and don’t want to take the time to do it yourself, buying braided earphones is your best bet – if you can find some.

4. Over-Under Method

You’re simply alternating two different kinds of loops to counteract any kind of tangling when you unravel your headphones, so start by making a regular loop and then make another loop that goes in the opposite direction. The easiest way to do this is to grab the cable underhand, then bring it up and twist it a little as you make a loop out of it. This method can be a little tricky at first and may take a bit of practice, but it doesn’t tangle your headphones at all and they’re easy to unravel when you need them quickly. However, it still takes a lot of time to wrap them up no matter how good you are at it.

5. Old bank card

If you have a few minutes to spare and want a cheap and effective way to wrap your earphones, you can make a cord wrapper out of an old credit card or rewards card. Just cut it in half and cut two angled slots, one at each end opposite of each other. Make sure to create a larger opening at the end of the slots so that you can fit the earphones through them. Just like the binder clip method, you can use the card as a cable shortener and it takes up less space. Although, wrapping a cable around a credit card creates sharps bends in the cable which could ruin your earphones over time.

6. Use your phone

Use your phone or old phone as the actual wrapping device. This also ensures that your earphones and the phone never get separated. You can do this many ways, but arguably the best method is to create a half-loop before you start wrapping the cable around, and then use the loop to secure the end by tightening it down. It’s a bit tricky at first and can take some practice. Plus, you won’t be able to slip your device in and out of your pocket.

These are just some basic earphone life-hacks for you to try but if you know of any others, please share with us by leaving a comment below.