The right Christmas light clips can be the difference between Clark Griswold's holiday light misadventures (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, 1989) and Martha May's Christmas light gun (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2000) when decorating your home for Christmas.
Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture. If you do it right, the Christmas light hangers you use could cut back on the time, energy, and money you spend hanging holiday lights year after year!
But with so many different types of clips, hooks, and doodads available, how do you choose the right Christmas light clips for your needs?
Of course, we are biased to our own holiday light-hanging system so we will talk a bit about our products. With so many uses and applications, we think we are justified. All you have to do is choose the female end (Carriage Snap or Zip Snap) that fits your lights and the male end (Gutter Snap, Sticky Snap, or Screw Snap) that works with your surface, and you have a system that can be used year after year.
Let's get into the details of choosing the best Christmas light clips for your home so you can determine what you need for your Christmas decorating project.
How to Choose the Right Christmas Light Clips for Your Home
Determine the type of lights you will be using.
Before you can choose the right Christmas light clips for your home, apartment, dorm, RV, etc. you need to determine what type of Christmas lights you will be using.
Different types of lights require different types of clips, so it’s important to know what you’re working with. For example, if you’re using traditional string lights (i.e. icicle lights), you’ll need clips that can hold the wire securely in place. If you’re hanging C9 or C7 lights, you’ll need clips that can hold the bulb/socket in place.
Take some time to assess your lights and make a list of the features you need in your clips.
For Snap Lights, here are the clips (female side) you need depending on the lights you are using:
· Icicle lights and other Christmas string lights: Zip Snaps
· Rope light: Zip Snaps
· C9/C7 Christmas lights: Carriage Snaps
Consider the material of your home's exterior.
When choosing Christmas light clips for your home, it’s important to consider the material you'll be working with. Different surfaces require different types of clips.
We recommend creating a plan before you buy your lights. There are some surfaces that are very hard to accommodate.
However, we do pride ourselves on providing a solution that allows homeowners and professionals alike to decorate difficult surfaces. Here are the Snap Lights clips (male ends) you will need depending on your surfaces:
· Gutters and roof tiles: Gutter Snaps
· Gutter with leaf guards: Screw Snaps or Sticky Snaps
· Fascia: Screw Snaps
· Window frames and door frames: Sticky Snaps
· Glass and other smooth surfaces: Sticky Snaps
· Railings and fences: Sticky Snaps
· Other porous surfaces: Screw Snaps
Consider ease of installation and removal.
When choosing Christmas light clips, it’s important to consider how easy they are to install and remove. Look for clips that can be easily attached to your home or outdoor fixtures without the need for tools or complicated instructions.
Also, choose clips that can be easily removed without damaging your lights or home. This will save you time and hassle when it comes to setting up and taking down your Christmas lights.
Yes, this is another thing Snap Lights does exceedingly well. Actually, it was sort of the driving purpose behind Snap Lights being created. The founders wanted a solution that reduced the time and energy it took to install and take down Christmas lights every year.
So, here's how it works. Before the holidays, you attach the male end to your surface, attach the female end to your lights, and SNAP! them together. After the holidays, you un-SNAP! the components. The male end stays on your home and the female end stays on the lights, making them ready to use again next year! Alternatively, you can swap out your lights and easily SNAP! up the new decorations with the existing male end.
Decide if you care about aesthetics.
There are many Christmas light clips that will do a decent job of keeping your lights where you want them, but only a handful of them can do the job without looking dingy in the off-season.
If you intend to leave your clips up year-round, will it bother you if they aren’t the same color as your home or if they draw attention away from your home’s curb appeal?
There is the option of using products under your home’s fascia. In fact, there’s a rising trend of homeowners installing year-round lights under the fascia which adds a warm, inviting glow to the house.
Our Screw Snaps are perfect for tucking lights under the fascia. And another neat feature of all of our products is the ability to paint the components to match your home. We use a material that allows the paint to bind rather than slip off like many plastic products.
Think of the weather conditions and the durability of clips.
Depending on where you live, your outdoor Christmas decorations could experience temperatures fluctuating 40° to 50° F. They might be exposed to high winds, blizzards, or even abundant sunshine. (Even sunshine can take its toll.) And that’s just in a single holiday season.
That’s why our products are made of durable, plastic-injected material with UV protection. This means your Snap Lights Christmas light clips will be able to endure many weather conditions for years to come.
Plan for other decorations and holidays.
If your Christmas decorations aren’t limited to light strings, you may want to consider which clips offer additional uses. Can your gutter hook hold a garland? Can your parapet clip hold a wreath?
Thanks to our Zip Snaps, Snap Lights can accommodate lots of types of decorations.
There are even more types of decorations to consider if you decorate for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, or Valentine’s Day. With some planning, you can pick a clip that significantly reduces your time spent on a ladder across the whole year.
Snap Lights are not just limited to outdoor use, mind you. As long as you pick the right male end for your intended surface, Snap Lights can help you hang loads of decorations inside your house!
Have you made up your mind?
We hope we’ve given you some good factors to consider when choosing Christmas light clips. Whether you are creating the biggest Christmas light display in your town or just outlining your home in festive lights, Snap Lights can make your life a lot easier.
Feel free to contact us if you need any help choosing the right Christmas light clips for your project!
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