Reduce Electrical Cord Clutter

Products and ideas to keep all of those electrical cords and cables from getting hold of your pet and vice versa

MetPet.com Staff Writer

Do you have a spaghetti-like messes of black, white, grey and beige cables and cords snaking under your feet, around your desk, across your countertops, behind your TV and even in your car? It is a mess for most households but, for those with pets, it can be a life-threatening hazard.

Cats and puppies love to go exploring in dark areas.  They can become tangled in the cords and may end up chewing on them.  At the very least, the cords become a mess of pet hair and grime and are notoriously difficult to keep clean.

We have been scouting out products and ideas that reduce cord clutter and enhance safety.  Here are some findings.  We will update this article as new products and new ideas become available.  Whichever product or method you decide to use, please remember that underneath their flexible plastic or rubberized coating, electrical cords are a bunch of wires.  Make sure not to kink or bend them excessively.

Cord and Cable Collectors

These ties gather up cords and cables into neat bundles.  Wrap the bundles snugly and then cut or hide the tail ends if there are any so as not to leave a 'chewable' piece.

You can also use ribbon scraps and hairbands making sure that the ends are tucked neatly or cut very short.  Try grosgrain ribbon as satin ribbons are usually too soft and tend to look messy.  In order to keep track of which cable and cord go with which component, color code both ends of each piece. 

Plastic Cable Ties
These little gizmos are inexpensive and come in a variety of  styles, colors, lengths and materials.  The most basic ones are single-use and have to be cut to open.  If you're going to move things around look for the multi-use ones which can be opened, repositioned and closed many times.

Velcro One-Wrap
These very basic hook and loop fasteners come in a variety of colors.  Place one around some cords, thread the tail through the eyelet and pull snugly.  They won't hide the cords and cables but they will make them look like one big neat one. 

Velcro With Pin Tabs
These close with Velcro as well but they just wrap instead of threading through an eyelet.  These also have a fabric end that can be tacked to the wall with push pins.

All of these products come from a variety of manufacturers in a variety of different colors and sizes.  Hardware stores are the most likely to have a big selection although some drugstores often carry basic cable ties.

Cable Hiders

These range from the plastic hose-like flexible covers to vinyl contraptions sturdy enough to step on.  Some of these covers take more than one cord and some come with adhesive backing that can be tacked onto carpets or hard surface floors for extra security. 

The cable cord cover with zipper contraption makes it easy to hide all of those computer cables.  You do not have to thread individual cords through a tube so you are done in a minute or two instead of twenty.  The

For really heavy-duty use, look for stores that sell to factories and other types of industrial applications. 

Cable Winders and Collectors

Wind and/or hide
These products wind up excess cords from small appliances and keep them tidy in a variety of ways.  Some just wind while others wind and hide. 

Cables look neat and tidy with only the two ends sticking out and they come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

These are particularly helpful for those who have cats who travel along kitchen countertops. 

For those pesky little wires for iPods and other small electronics, try the interesting little Cable Yo-Yo.  This neat little contraption will keep Rover from becoming tangled in the earphones in the car.

For the garage and workshop, this handy contraption even comes with a crank to take up the heavy-duty (and heavy) extension cords for your power tools.

This helps prevent the tangling and kinking and knotting that comes from trying to gather up cords by hand.  Plus this increases their useful life.

If you are handy with a drill, you can make your own garage cord keeper using a 5 gallon plastic bucket with or without a lid.  Drill a hole large enough to thread your cord through on the side of the bucket right at the base.  Thread the plug of your cord through the hole and plug it into the socket.  Then wind the rest of the cord around the inside of the bucket. 

If you like, make a large hole in the top of the lid to pull the other end of the cord through.  Otherwise, simply use it without the lid.

Hide the speaker and home theater wires

Spackle and paint or pretend it's molding
If you have yards of thick cable running between the various components of your stereo or home theater system, consider changing to flat speaker wire that can be tacked to a wall.  Some types of wire can even be covered in plaster and painted so as to 'disappear' entirely. 

This saves you hours of drilling holes in drywall and 'fishing' the wire through with a coat hanger.  Even if you don't spackle and paint over it, neutral-colored wire looks nice just running on top of the baseboards.

You can also buy kits which hide wire inside wall 'molding' which can then be painted to match your decor.   

Related Information:
Electrical Burns On Pets