15 clever Ways to store Christmas Lights (no more knots)

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Do you love decorating for Christmas, but hate dealing with tangled strings of lights? In this article we’ll look at over 15 Christmas light storage ideas so you can store your lights and keep them neatly organized until next year. Don’t let knotted lights turn the “most wonderful time of the year” into a furious, front yard struggle with decorations.

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How to store Christmas Lights – 16 Ideas

Below you’ll find some ideas on how you can store and organize your Christmas lights.

Remember, make sure exterior Christmas lights are dry before storing them away until next year. If you put them away wet – and into a bag that doesn’t breath (like in plastic bags or a garbage bag) – then the moisture can ruin your string lights.

Not all of these ideas will work for you…or for your lights.

But hopefully at least one of these options will do the trick.

1) Christmas Light Storage Reels and Bag (by Santa’s Bag)

The company Santa’s Bag makes these storage reels and bag so you can nicely organize and store your Christmas lights.

They claim you can store up to 150-feet of mini light strings on each cord reel, and up to 75-feet of larger outdoor Christmas lights per spool.

Once you’ve wound the lights around the spool you can store the spools in the red Christmasy storage bag.

This is a popular and well-rated option. But will it work for you?

2) Christmas Light Holder – plastic wind-around holders

You wrap your strands of lights around these plastic holders to help prevent them from getting tangled around other strings of lights.

When you get to the end of the strand you can plug it in to the opposite end to connect them together so they stay tight to the plastic hanger.

Holders like these are an easy way to organize Christmas lights…but you still need to find a place to store them. Putting them into a red or green colored tote makes them easy to recognize as Christmas decorations.

This comes as a 12-pack so you’ll be able to tidy up a lot of lights with this product.

3) Christmas Lights Storage Box with cardboard holders and Zippered lid

This comes with 4 cardboard holders that you wrap the lights around. So it’s a similar idea to the above product but these are cardboard and not plastic.

And then you store them in this zippered, fabric storage box.

The box has festive holiday colors of red and green so it’ll be easy to identify on your shelves.

Click here to see current price of this storage solution.

4) Storage Box with Removable Lid and Plastic Holders

If you don’t like zippers and you want something more durable than cardboard holders, the company ZOBER makes this well-rated Christmas lights storage box.

The pieces you wrap the lights around are plastic on this product and not cardboard.

5) Christmas light storage bag

So again, this is a similar idea, but the light-holders fit inside this barrel-shaped light storage bag.

It looks cool, and has handles, but personally I prefer storage options I can stack up (like sturdy plastic totes).

This may work well for you though if you have a spot on a shelf to place it so the lights won’t get damaged.

6) Hanging Cord and Lights Strap (Tidy Tight Garage)

Do you have some wall space along your garage or shed to hang this?

You can store an extension cord or Christmas lights inside each of the 5 loops. The straps secure around the cords using a plastic buckle and clip.

Then once you snapped your lights into the loops you hang the entire strap from the metal D-hook at the top.

The good thing about this is that it’ll keep your lights together.

The downside is that you need the space to hang it.

It is a well-rated hanger called Tidy Tight Garage that people use for extension cords but it’ll work for holiday lights too.

7) Wrap your lights around a clothes hanger

A low-cost way to store Christmas lights is wrapping strings of Christmas lights around a clothes hanger.

Start by hanging the male end of the lights through the small hook on the hanger (leaving the male end accessible so you can easily plug it into the wall to test the strand).

Then wrap the lights around the hanger. Looping the strand around the center hook of the hanger will prevent the lights from sliding off one end or the other.

Once you’ve got your lights wrapped around a hanger you can hang them in a storage closet or from a hook on the wall. Or if they are dry, you could place them in a storage tote, bag or box. (But if you’re going to lay them flat anyway, the option below may work better.)

8) Wrap your lights around Strips of Cardboard

I recently tried this option and I really like it. It has worked well for me.

It proves that storing Christmas lights doesn’t have to be fancy.

You just need some cardboard boxes. This is a good option for dry interior lights that haven’t been exposed to rain or snow since cardboard soaks up moisture if it gets wet.

Cut a flat piece of cardboard into strips approximately 6-inches wide by 18-inches long, or even larger dimensions for longer strings of lights. (And the wider you make it the less winds required.)

Then wrap the lights around the strip of cardboard. Leaving the male end exposed and accessible will allow you to plug it in and check to make sure the lights work.

You can cut or tear a small notch at the far end of the cardboard to hold the female end of the light string.

If you want to avoid lots of overlap you’ll need a longer strip of cardboard for longer lengths of lights. (Say that 3 times fast!)

And I find it easier to wind the lights around stiffer pieces of cardboard so you could tape two strips of cardboard together back-to-back to make them stiffer.

Depending on the length of your string lights, you may be able to get one or two strings wrapped around the cardboard. If you have more lights just use more strips of cardboard.

And then stack the light-wrapped strips of cardboard in your Christmas tote. For extra protection of the bulbs you could put bubble wrap, old wrapping paper or newspaper between the sections of lights.

Some people prefer to wrap the lights around the long ends of the rectangular strip of cardboard. This may be more appropriate for larger bulbs and longer strings of lights. You’ll want to ensure you have stiff cardboard (or wood) when you do this or else the actual process of winding the lights around can be frustrating if the cardboard folds up on you.

9) DIY method using wooden holders

If you’re handy with a jig saw you can cut plywood into large “H” shapes, or anvil shaped holders to wrap your lights around.

It is a similar concept to #2 on this list or even the strips of cardboard above, but you’ll be making your own holders out of wood instead of buying plastic ones or using cardboard.

Then wrap your lights around your wooden holders.

10) Use an empty wire spool (repurpose an electrician’s waste)

Your local electrician will probably have a few empty wire spools kicking around, or check out a local building site and ask if you can have one.

They are intended to hold long lengths of electrical wire, and you can repurpose them to hold your Christmas lights.

This is a good option if you have larger bulbs like C9 bulbs, or C7 bulbs. Just be careful wrapping the lights around to ensure you don’t break the bulbs.

11) Wrap your lights around paper towel rolls or wrapping paper tubes

Another no cost way to store Christmas lights is to wrap your lights around the empty tubes from paper towels or wrapping paper. (Or even toilet paper tubes for really short strings of lights).

I’ve heard the suggestion to feed one end of the lights through the hole in the tube then start winding the other end of the lights around the tube. But I find it difficult to get the thick plug ends of the lights through the tube.

So I tape the strand of lights to the tube then start winding the lights around the tube. Once completed I tape the other end to the tube as well.

Some people like to plug the ends of the lights into themselves to keep them snug around the tube.

If you choose to wrap your lights around wrapping paper tubes, you could then store your lights in gift wrap organizers like the one below by ZOBER.

How many of the rolls you’ll fit in here will depend on how bulky your lights are when wrapped around the tubes. And this will depend on the size of your lights (mini lights or larger C7 or C9 bulbs) and the length of the strand of lights.

12) Re-coil the lights and strap a rubber band around them

When you bought the lights they were probably coiled in a box with a wire strap around them.

You can re-coil the strand and then put rubber bands around them to keep them together.

If you don’t have rubber bands you could use twist-ties like you find at grocery stores, or a cable tie like the ones below from VELCRO.

Then you can carefully place these bundles of lights in your Christmas tote with other Christmas decorations, or put them in their own container. (Some people even buy inexpensive wreath storage bags, and dedicate these to holding their bundles of lights.)

13) Store your lights inside a wreath storage container

These type of containers are intended to hold Christmas wreaths but some people use them to store Christmas lights instead.

I haven’t personally tried this but I think if you just put all your lights in there they’ll get tangled once you start carrying the case.

If you put a cylindrical piece of foam or balled-up stocking in the center of the storage container you could lay the lights around the outside of the circle. And the foam in the center would prevent the lights from sagging down when carried.

If you’ve tried this method, let me know what you thought about it.

RELATED: Wreath Storage Ideas – over 11 ideas to help you store these festive decorations

14) What about icicle lights? – How to store icicle lights

Tangled icicle lights are a common complaint. But an icicle light storage idea you can try is to cut a rectangular strip of plastic sheeting that matches the length and width of your lights.

Then lay the icicle lights onto the rectangular sheet of plastic.

Then begin rolling up the plastic with the lights inside – like you’re rolling up a crepe covered in jam. (In this analogy the crepe is the plastic and the jam is the lights. )

The plastic will separate the dangling strips of icicle lights from other strips and stop them from getting tangled together.

15) What about extra bulbs?

If you have extra bulbs to repair burnt out bulbs, you can place them into empty egg cartons (one carton will likely work) and then carefully place the carton into your Xmas storage bin.

You can organize the bulbs by color and size if you prefer.

We have some old Christmas tins that we use to hold our extra light bulbs and this works for us.

16) What about long strings of exterior Christmas lights? – try Wrap-It straps

These storage straps are commonly used to store extension cords and hoses. But you can use them to store long lengths of Christmas lights too.

They are available in a variety of lengths so you can buy some that suit your needs.

Once you’re wrapped up your lights you could hang them from a hook or nail in your garage, or lay them flat in a box or tote.

Hanging them up is a good way to store long strands of exterior bulbs that may have some moisture on them so they’ll dry out.

I hope these storage ideas will help you maintain the holiday spirit and avoid the frustration caused by a tangled mess of lights.

And at the end of the season when it is time to take everything down, you’ll be well prepared to nicely organize your decorations until the next holiday season. Your future self will pour you an egg nog in thanks.

Speaking of Christmas Spirit…you may also like:

How to get into the Christmas spirit – 19 ways

Thank you.

Tim from LearnAlongWithMe.com

Tim worked in construction for a few years before going to university. Then he worked in a pharmacy for 10 years and now works as a full-time writer and online publisher. He has experience in several different, far-reaching lines of work.
“I sincerely hope you find the articles helpful and informative.”
Tim from LearnAlongWithMe.com