9 Brilliant Uses for Cardboard Tubes to Help You Get Your Whole Home Organized

Outsmart cord chaos.

You stash the cords to your laptop, phone and other devices in your home office to keep them out of sight and in one place. The only problem? They end up in a tangled mess! The fix: Slip each cord through a cardboard tube and label its use. Then place each bundle in a basket or other organizer. Now you can reach for the cord you need without any untangling hassle.

Protect candles in storage.

When you packed away your holiday taper candles last year, one of them got broken. To prevent this, slip candles inside a long cardboard tube before tucking them into a drawer or container. The makeshift holder creates a protective barrier, so they can glow just as brightly next holiday season.

Keep boots standing high.

Your high boots look great on you, but when you store them in the closet at the end of the day, they flop over and can wind up with creases. To avoid this, gather three tall cardboard tubes in a bunch and tape them together. Make two bunches and place one in each boot shaft. The trio of sturdy tubes ensures the leather stays upright and in stylish condition.

Speed-dry wet gloves.

After a fun afternoon of playing in the snow, the little ones’ gloves are quite damp. To help speed up drying time, place each glove on the end of an empty cardboard tube and prop it someplace warm. The tube will open the fabric just enough to allow air to circulate inside. Gloves will be dry in a jiffy!

Fend off restless kitty boredom.

On days when Muffin is feeling restless, keep her out of trouble with a fun toy. To make: Slip a few treats into pieces of a cardboard tube, then press both ends inward with your fingers to seal. Your sweetie will have a blast trying to tease the treats out of the tube.

Corral wayward hair accessories.

You like to keep bobby pins and ponytail holders on hand for quick styling in the morning. But you don’t like fumbling through drawers trying to find the accessory you need. The solution: Wrap hair elastics around an empty cardboard tube and slide hairpins and clips on the end. Then store the tube in a bathroom drawer or medicine cabinet. Problem solved!

Tidy up rolls of wrapping paper.

As you’re packing up your holiday decorations, you realize you have a lot of leftover wrapping paper that you want to save. To ensure it stays neat and free of creases while in storage, cut a long empty cardboard tube lengthwise. Then slip it around a tube of wrapping paper. This outer shell will safeguard paper from rips and keep it from unraveling until you use it next year.

Extend the reach of a vacuum.

If you have trouble reaching dust and cobwebs in high ceilings or under the bed, enlist the help of a cardboard tube. Simply slip a tube from a wrapping paper roll over the end of your vacuum’s extension attachment and secure with duct tape. The addition of the long cylinder will give you just enough extra length to eliminate those pesky dust bunnies and cobwebs from the house for good.

This article originally appeared in our print magazine.