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De-tangling

When you’re first starting out, tangles can take what seems like forever to undo, and can be especially frustrating if you got the string out of the package properly to begin with, only to find the long side snarled after installing a couple of mains. However, if you examine your tangles, you’ll find that many of them are either slipknots or twists in the string that have locked themselves in. Each can easily be eliminated with the proper technique.

Slipknots typically form when you are pulling the string through the frame by the free end. The more you pull, the tighter the slipknot becomes. Therefore, to undo a slipknot, pull on the “back” of the string, where the string is coming out of the frame from the previously installed string. As long as the slipknot has not been pulled too tight, it should come right apart.

Twists take the form of loops in the string and can be undone by putting your finger through the loop and “unwinding” the twist. If you can’t tell by looking which way to unwind the twist to eliminate the loop, pick a direction and try turning that way. If the loop is getting tighter, you need to go back and turn the loop the other way. While you’re doing this, it helps if you can lift the free end of the string off the floor, to allow the end of the string to unwind, which will prevent another twist farther along.

Greg Raven, MRT, Apple Valley, CA

From the July 2006 issue
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