‘I used to decorate Christmas trees professionally – you’re putting lights on all wrong’

A mum has claimed we’ve all been putting up the lights on our Christmas trees in the wrong way, as she praised the ‘zig-zag method’ for being the best way to decorate

The first full week of December is almost over, and for many of us, that means it’s time to get the boxes of Christmas decorations down from the loft ready for a weekend of dressing the house up ready for the festive season.

But when you go to put the lights on your Christmas tree, what method will you be using? Most of us would naturally use the “coil” method to wrap the lights around the branches in rings, but according to one mum, that’s not the most efficient way to do things.

Clare Hoops said she used to decorate Christmas trees as part of her job, and claimed that we should all be using the “zig-zag” method to put the lights on our trees instead – though not everyone is convinced.

The zig-zag method is designed for trees that are going to sit in the corner of the room, as it reduces the number of lights “wasted” on the back of the tree that no one will see.

Instead of wrapping the lights around the tree, you instead put them in zig-zag lines from the bottom to the top and back down to the bottom again, covering just the front part of your tree in twinkling lights.

Clare shared her tip in a video on her @mrsclarehoops account on TikTok, where she said: “If you’re coiling your Christmas tree lights, you’re doing it wrong.

“Decorating Christmas trees used to be part of my job and we used the zig-zag method. It means you don’t waste lights around the back of your tree, and if a set breaks, you can take them off really easily.”

In the caption of her clip, Clare explained she doesn’t “really care” how people decorate their trees – as it’s all down to personal preference and there’s no right or wrong way of doing things – and insisted the video was just “for fun”.

But that didn’t stop commenters from discussing the interesting method Clare had used, as many said the zig-zag method would “drive them insane” because the wires between each light aren’t as well hidden as they are when coiling the lights.

One person said: “The wires being so visible would drive me insane!”

While another added: “Nope, round and round so the wire is properly hidden.”

And a third wrote: “Don’t like it this way because you see all the wire.”

Others pointed out that while Clare may have used the method in her job, it’s a trick mainly used by professional installers just because it’s “quicker”, as one person explained: “Zig-zag is used by installers because it’s quicker, but it doesn’t look as good because the tree has no depth.”

But not everyone was against the idea, as some said they already use the zig-zag method to decorate their tree – although many noted they do it horizontally rather than vertically.

Someone wrote: “I horizontally zig-zag then check from every viewing point in the room that you can’t see the bareness at the back.”

As someone else noted: “I zig-zag, but horizontally.”

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