Reader Paul says he's got a little trick that helps keep his headphone cables from getting tangled into knots:

With your right hand make devil horns (third and fourth fingers tucked, second and fifth extended) Use your thumb to hold the earbuds against your palm Wrap the cable around your 2nd and 5th fingers using a figure-8. This is really the key part, the cris-crossing prevents it from knotting When you have 6 to 8 inches of cable left, wrap the remaining cable around the center of the figure-8 a few times Tuck remaining cable to taste. Sometimes I tuck it through one of the figure-8 loops, sometimes through the center wrapping, sometimes not at all.

Tightness of the wrapping determines how well it holds together, but if you use a loose wrap, you can just pull on the earbuds and the whole thing comes undone without a single knot.


I gave it a try - see photo! - and it works well. Paul said he stole the idea from his fiancee's knitting. She uses the same technique (called butterflying) to create mini balls of yarn that don't knot and can just be pulled on to get more yarn. Neat.