Binder clips as cable organizers

Yes.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Luke

I have been doing this for years, though it is mostly because I get really annoyed by stray cables. I especially like to group bundles of cable with the extra large clips. They keep everything organized while still allowing you to remove a cable or two easily when needed.
SomeGuy

I’ve been doing this for several years – ever since I got a keyboard drawer installed on my desk. During the 1st week I kept snagging the cables from the keyboard/mouse with my big feet and yanking them off the back of the shelf. While crawling under my desk to retrieve my mouse which had bounced to the deepest, darkest corner I found a clip on the floor and had a sudden aha moment.
_OM_

…Like others have said, I too was doing this trick on my own desks at work, going back about 25 years. It helps if the edge of the desktop is no thicker than 3/4″, tho, as they can scare the bemohammed out of you if they decide to slip off the edge. Some call these clips “Jesus Clips” because they “Hurt Like the Jesus” if you get pinched by one.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Some call these clips “Jesus Clips” because they “Hurt Like the Jesus” if you get pinched by one.
  
  Binders clips have several enjoyable personal applications. The glass is half full.
Stefan Jones

That’s great!

I have — have to have — three different USB camera cables and a USB “B” cable wired to the hub on my “media linux box”. Something like this might help reduce the snake-orgy effect.
Shelby Davis

Oh, man! Why did I not see this before?
Jim Luthar

this is a crazy tip. tried it out and it’s amazing, more plugs more clips. thanx.
WaylonWillie

Brilliant! The only drawback is that if you try to use them to organize bananas, they smush them.
TimLillis

Cool! I’ve been using a variation of this at my desk:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/narwhalbot/3904762907/
Anonymous

I’ve never thought of this, a very simple idea. Great if combined with one of the cable tidy solutions out there.
Anonymous

Of course. Thank you.
Anonymous

@anon #1

The lever arms are detachable, just pinch them.
- Anonymous
  
  Thank you :)
muteboy

Binder clip as beer stacking aid. http://flic.kr/p/5kiRdG
athenacsr

who would have thought that you can use binder clips this way. I’ll try it in my office. I’m also using a unique memo pad holder as a desk organizer.
Anonymous

This is awesome and I can’t believe I’ve never thought of it. Off to implement right now!
aj

Binder clips are useful for MANY purposes. This is a good one for sure.
hinten

or you could just an actual product that does this:
http://keepacable.com/products.html
- muteboy
  
  Why buy something when your office supply closet contains the solution already? (if you work in an office)
  - hinten
    
    Because the pre-cut, slim, white plastic sheet doesn’t look like an office experiment gone wrong and won’t launch like missiles into the room when someone bumps into it.
milovoo

This was very a useful method to clip your mouse cable to the top of your mouse pad back when mice had balls, but now with the opticals it’s not as important.

It still might be good if you want to keep your mouse cable out of the way.
baph

I think the largest parts of each cable would fit through the widest part of the metal clip “handles,” the narrow part of the cable (cable proper) may then be pulled (ever so gingerly!) through the narrowest part of the handle. The success of this method may depend on type of binder clip.

But that’s how I have been doing it, since 1893, when the idea came to me in a fever-dream caused by eating a mouldy cheese before bed and slumbering with my window open.

In seriousness, I’ve never thought of this, and wish my home desk wasn’t so formally refined/cheap-ass as to have no drawers or overhangs or sections of wood (particle board) narrow enough to accommodate the yearning maw of a comely binder clip. Thanks, Ikea!
Anonymous

“How do you get such a large item into a small hole?”
————————————————————-
really, is nobody going to say “thats what she said” to this?
- Anonymous
  
  That was my 1st thought…
chairface

My God. That’s… that’s raw office supply genius.

For those that don’t know, the handles of binder clips are designed to be easy to remove and replace, so getting fat ended cables in there is easy.
Anonymous

If you’re having difficulties getting the wires in, just remember to knijp de pootjes, and all will be well.
- JohnnyQuest
  
  “just remember to knijp de pootjes”
  
  THAT’S what she said….
Anonymous

i tried to use giant clips to hold several wired together on my desk but I immediately noticed too much static whenever I reached for the a switch box.
phead

Nice, that’s really good. For some reason I’ve never heard the term “binder clip” before, we always use “bulldog clip”
jennyjenjen

This really neat. And here I’ve been paying a lot more for those M3 sticky hook things!
WalterBillington

Yes.
I stood in a daze, turned and floated to my meagre stationery supplies. One Foldback 1415 collected, and pressed into action.
Months. Months. Months of annoyance and irksome anticipation.
Solved.
manch3go

This just made my life a small bit better :)
tumes

This is how we hold our Eppendorf pipettes at my lab. Brilliant!
- Pipetman Rob
  
  I see that in MANY labs. That can bend your tip holder/shaft. Not a good idea. You should ALWAYS hang your pipettes from the handle. (oh…and use Gilson Pipetman. They are the best! http://www.pipetman.com)
Anonymous

Wow! I laughed a lot, because when I first saw the photo for this solution I said to myself: “No!”, and next to the photo there’s a “Yes.” This solution is simply a one-of-a-kind way to organize cables. Thanks a lot!
Kim

If you’re a cuber or your desk is too thick, push pins are great for this too! http://twitpic.com/1ab3rz
TimLillis

Here’s another way I’ve incorporated binder clips into cable management:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/narwhalbot/4457689705/
Anonymous

I’d pay to see that.
Uncle Geo

See now, this is just brilliant. Something we all should have figured out and just never did.
thirdspaced

This is a great idea. I already use them with the nest of cables under my desk

http://www.instructables.com/id/Computer_Cable_Management_on_the_Cheap/

Now I will also use them on top.
DJBudSonic

That’s great! just last night I hung up a bunch of these and used them to hang stuff in my shop, like paint rollers cages and was wondering “why haven’t I thought of this before…??”
jimh

A wonderful thing!
Anonymous

How do you get such a large item into a small hole?
- JM
  
  That’s what she said. Boom.
- Eark_the_Bunny
  
  Anon â€¢ #1 â€¢ 12:44 on Mon, Mar.22 â€¢ Reply
  
  How do you get such a large item into a small hole?
  ————————————————————-
  This is done by removing the wire portion of the clip then insert the cable through it and then replace the wire back onto the clip.
  
  Eark
- Anonymous
  
  that’s what she said.
- jennyjenjen
  
  That’s what she said!
- Anonymous
  
  THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID
- Anonymous
  
  You don’t. You put it through the wider part of the clip and then pull just the wire to the small part.
- Anonymous
  
  Super idea with the clips!
- Anonymous
  
  Thats what she said!!!
blaisepascal

I’ve been doing this for a while at work. Our desks are glass-topped and can slide up to one another to form a mostly-continuous surface. This pinches the cables in the area where the handle narrows, which might cause problems with some cables. It certainly makes my iPhone USB cable look beat up.