Disorderly and dangerous is the best way to describe the tangles of cables that live around computers, television, or stereo equipment. The unsightly mess is good only for dust bunnies.
And getting tripped up in the wire jungle is actually one of the most common causes of PC-related household accidents, according to a recent study by the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
There are two options for avoiding gnarled cards. “You can bind up loose cables behind and attach them to the side of a desk or use cable tubes or cable hoses,” says Dusan Zivadanovic, a writer for German computer magazine c’t. The same technique can be used for cable connections between TVs and DVRs or between stereo equipment and speakers.
“You thread multiple cables together into a tube or hose so that the various cables are reduced to one single strand,” Zivadanovic explains. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of improvisation, either. “An empty roll of toilet paper or the like functions just as well as the commercial conduits,” he notes.
Professional cable hoses and tubes are available at most home improvement or electronics shops in a variety of models. Not all cables are the same size, though, meaning extra steps are often needed to bring real order.
“Cables that hang over the ends of the pipes because they’re too long are folded into loops and fixed with cable binders,” recommends German IT consultant Heinz Nothofer. Cable ties are available in wire, metal, and Velcro versions. “A strong piece of tape works, too,” he adds.
There are times when the spot you choose for your devices is nowhere near a plug. “Cables snaking across the floor are a real tripping hazard,” Nothofer warns. The cables themselves can also be damaged if they lie around unprotected.
“The cords are subjected to a lot of stress…