By Ned McRae
When working from home, it’s important to have a clean and tidy workspace so that you can concentrate and get work done easily. Studies show that having a clean, organised workspace can help people to focus and process information, therefore improving productivity. As the number of people working from home increases, so does the amount of tech used; monitors, computer mice, wi-fi routers, keyboards, and more. These often create a web of cables around your desk, which creates clutter that will distract you from your work. However, there is a simple and cost-effective way to hide those pesky cables.
Cable management sleeves are a great way to tidy up your workspace by providing sleek and affordable housing for your cables to hide in. If you need help finding the perfect cable management sleeve, this guide has you covered.
Cable management sleeves are a simple and cost-effective tool used for bundling cables together and hiding them in a sleek sleeve, rather than having a bunch of loose cables tangled up together. Most cable management sleeves are made of a stretchy, flexible plastic weave, that uses velcro to wrap around your cables. You can cut these types of cable management sleeves with scissors to suit your needs, depending on how long your cables are. Cable sleeves are perfect for cables that are dangling behind TVs or desks.
There are multiple options for cable sleeves, each at different price points, and for different uses. Overall, they are all cheap and effective.
There are multiple types of cable management sleeves, each fit for a different purpose. We will outline which ones are most effective in certain circumstances so you can decide which cable management sleeve is the best for you.
This is the most common type of cable management sleeve due to its low price and versatility. These cable management sleeves are made of a stretchy and expandable plastic weave, allowing you to bundle as few or as many cables together as you like, while still providing a clean and sleek look. It can also be easily cut to a length that suits you. This type of cable management sleeve is easy to use as you can unwrap the sleeve, place the cables into the sleeve, then wrap it back up within seconds.
Expect to pay roughly $30-$40 for 3 metres of sleeving. These are usually fire retardant and durable enough to protect from pets trying to chew your cables. Flexible coiled cable management sleeves are great for most people, as they are affordable, easy to use and versatile and can wrap a few or many cables while still looking sleek.
These sleeves are made from hard plastic and are flexible, but not expandable. These are more durable than the flexible coiled wraps, so are great for those looking to really protect their cables. This type of cable sleeve is great for those who have cheeky pets or kids who persistently damage your cables, or if you need some outdoor cable management. The hard plastic makes them easy to clean, however, they can look a bit bulky, and also don’t allow for lots of cables as the spiral cable wraps are not expandable. Spiral cable sleeves are also slightly harder to use as you have to feed the cable through one end until it pops out the other.
These are slightly more expensive, usually costing between $35 and $45.
Similar to the flexible coiled cable sleeve, the neoprene sleeve is flexible and somewhat expendable. It can be unfolded using the zipper or velcro mechanism to allow for easy access. If it has velcro, then it can easily be cut down to any length you like. We would recommend getting velcro over a zipper, as the zipper cannot be cut and is usually more expensive. A benefit of the neoprene construction is that holes can be cut along the side of the sleeve so that you can have different cables coming out at different sections, rather than having them all come out of one end. The neoprene construction is also quite durable and easy to wash - you can even wash it with your clothes!
Neoprene cable sleeves can cost $30-$50 for 3m, depending on whether you choose to opt for the zipper or velcro option.
The type of cable sleeve you choose depends on a variety of factors, unique to each individual. You have to consider how thick your bundle of cables is, if you need varying lengths of cable sleeves, how much durability and protection of cables you need, and the cost.
For most people, flexible coiled cable sleeves or neoprene cable sleeves will work best. Their simplicity and ease of use mean you can transform your messy nest of cables into a sleek cable sleeve in a matter of minutes. They are also cheap and look great.
Spiral cable sleeves are more niche than the other options. They are perfect for those who need great protection from their cables, whether it’s from pets indoors or the weather outdoors. They’re still easy to install, but not quite as easy as the neoprene cable sleeve, and they are quite bulky.
Although cable management sleeves are great for those bundles of cables from your TV, computer, or internet router, they might not be suited for other scenarios such as hiding away a large power board, or maybe you have a short bundle of cables that aren’t visible at all, where the use of a cable sleeve may be overkill.
For power boards, a cable box is perfect. Although they still aren’t the prettiest of things, they do a good job at hiding away ugly power boards and messy cables.
If you’re on a budget or don’t require something like a cable management sleeve or box, then you can just use zip ties from a hardware store to bundle cables together. Zip ties are extremely cheap, easy to obtain, and install in seconds. If you’re really on a budget, you can even use twine to tie your cables together!
The most expensive method of reducing cable clutter is to go wireless. Wireless peripherals, such as mice and keyboards are quite affordable and can be found in all tech stores. They work very well and mean you have fewer cables to deal with. 4G/5G modems like those offered by SpinTel only require one power cable to function and still offer lightning-fast internet speeds.
