Photo: Jupiterimages/Creatas/Getty Images
You have a great pair of tennis shoes or lace-ups just sitting in your closet -- but you can’t wear them, thanks to that pesky knot in your shoelaces. Don’t give up on your shoes just yet. Instead, you can use some knot-removal tricks to say goodbye to the knot for good. Just make sure you tie your shoelaces in a knot-free way from now on.
Twist and Release
Sometimes to get the knot out, you have to try a push-in-and-twist technique. To make this work for you, put take one side of the shoelace knot in each hand, with your fingertips just slightly out from the knot. Push your fingers in toward each other to try and loosen the knot, twisting as you push the shoelaces in. Release the shoelaces and start again, working with your shoestrings until the knot is loosened. You should then be able to untie your shoelaces.
Safety Pin Technique
A safety pin can do more than hold your bra together in a pinch -- you also can use it to get knots out of your shoelaces. Stick the pin in one portion of the knot and use the pin to pull up on the knot, helping to loosen it and free your shoelaces. You may have to play around with the best place to put the safety pin in and wiggling the safety pin around to finally get the knot free. Keep playing until you do.
Work Backward
If you have a knot so intricate it’s hard to believe how it got there in the first place, you may have to work backward to get the knot out. This means focusing on one string within the knot instead of both. Hold one end of the knot, then track it back through to where it goes in the knot. Try to push the string through the knot, moving it backward as if you are retracing steps. Keep following the knot through, until poof -- you have the knot out.
A Handy Trick
If your shoelaces tend to get tangled in transit, you can use an unexpected trick to keep knots out of your shoestrings: a plastic drinking straw. Thread your shoelace through the straw and tie it together at the end, discarding the straw, of course. This will keep your laces from knotting up.
