Tangling earbuds is definitely top 5 most frustrating things that can happen to you in your lifetime; especially if it happens when you are in dire need of those little devils.
Say you feel to listen to some music to relieve stress, or you need to answer an important call in public, and you check for your earbuds, find out they are tangled!. The feeling of agitation that occurs at this time is best avoided. At times you just want to rip the damn thing.
Trust me, you don’t need this kind of stress in your life; so I want to help you avoid it at all cost. Here are some effective methods of preventing your earphones from being tangled.
Just before we go into the methods, I think it is important to know why earphones tangle. First, you should understand that tangling earbuds are not your fault. Even if you keep your earbuds straight, they will end up tangled naturally. It’s in the nature of the material the earphones are made of.
Naturally, pieces of strings will form tangles without being agitated. It’s not just hearsay, this is the result of a scientific experiment that was done in 2007.
It was discovered, after over 4000 different trials that strings will always get tangled, even though the rate of tangling and types of knots formed differ for different lengths, string types and other variables.
Here are the methods you can use to stop these adorable little bastards from ruining your day:
1. The 8 fold
One of the ways you can use, to make your earbuds tangle free is to fold the cord into a figure-8 shape. Here’s how: Hold the two earbuds between your thumb and palm, then wrap the remaining length of the cord around the remaining four fingers. Keep wrapping it around them until just about two inches of the earbud is left.
Now, slide the rolled length out of your hand and hold it in the middle, with your thumb and index finger. If you have done this right, you should have most of the length of your cord looking like a figure 8 while holding it in place with your thumb.
Now, use the remaining part of the cord to wrap around that part you’re holding together with your thumb and index finger. You should now have a nice 8-shaped cord. You can drop the earbuds in your pocket or bag, and when you need to use it, simply loosen it up. If your earphones will ever be looped, it should be on your terms, right?
2. The four-finger method
This method is another figure 8 strategy in the tangle-battle. Hold the cord between your middle finger and ring finger. Make sure you hold the cord such that the two parts are the earbuds and the rest of the cord.
Now, wrap the cord around your second finger and index finger in such a way that it forms a figure 8. Keep wrapping it till you have a bit of the cord left. Now, wrap the remaining of the cord horizontally across the figure 8 and tuck the jack into the middle.
This method will be pretty easy for you if you are good at knitting. If you are not, this description should be enough to guide you. This is also a figure 8 shaped intervention, only that the resulting loop will be smaller than the first method discussed.
3. The double loop method
Fold your earbud over twice such that the length is now reduced up to a quarter of the original length of the cord. Now, wrap the new length of the cord around your index finger and thumb; once is enough.
After this, pass one end of the of the remaining length of the cord through the space between the loop, and pull both ends of the cord until it’s mildly firm. It should not be too firm because some cords are not very strong. We don’t want to damage the earphones while trying to stop the tangle.
4. Use your Phone
If you are the kind that couldn’t be bothered with so much looping or you are not in a position for so much twisting and tying, this method should be good for you. It’s simple.
While your earbuds are still plugged, simply wrap the cord around the length or width of your phone till the length is exhausted. The only issue you may have with this method is that after wrapping your earphones around the width of the phone, it may be too wide for your pocket.
You can use the length of the phone instead if this is the case. Just make sure you do not wrap it too tight so that the connection between the cord and the jack is not compromised.
5. The $25 method
This method is quite easy and very healthy for your earbuds but costs money. It simply involves using a small pouch to hold the folded earbuds. The pouch costs about $25, hence the name.
Conclusion
Obviously, It is quite easy to spare yourself of the stress and frustration that comes with tangled earbuds. At least, save your agitation for important stuff and make your beloved earbuds last longer.
[spacer style=”1″]
Guest Author bio:
I’m Akshay R.H, an audiophile and a professional blogger at Soundmaximum.
In this blog, I cover everything I learned regarding audio recording, will be reviewing high-end audio equipment.
