Introduction: Make Your Own "Wire-Keeps" Foam Wire Keepers

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About: Pay it Forward. You Get what you Give.

DIY "Wire-Keeps" foam wire keepers made easy. Here's an easy cheap fast way to get customizable cord control.  Perfect for that speaker wire that hangs at your feet under your desk.  I have been repurposing a lot of my interlocking foam rubber floor tiles.  You can get them in many colors, but gray is by far the most popular.  I think gray is the "new black" for foam rubber tile.

I did think of the idea and searched the net and I did find the product available.  As it turns out, making the item is pretty easy!
If you would rather order them I believe you can get them via Amazon for about $7.50 shipped (believe this is for package of 16).


Step 1: What You Need

What you need:
  • Foam rubber floor tile material - I used 5/8" thick variety. You won't need much!
  • Double-sided foam tape.  Mine was 1" wide.
  • Utility Knife
  • Drill and drillbit - I used a 1/4 inch bit.

Optional
  • Drillpress
  • Papercutter

Step 2: Cut Foam to Size

Cut foam into smaller size.  My foam was already 5/8" thick so that dimension is already fixed.  The length of mine was 3 inches long and 1 inch wide.  You can use a utility knife to do this.  Just try your best to keep the cuts nice, neat and square.  I thought I would live on the edge and attempt using a paper cutter.  I had to remove the safety guard.  The mechanism worked but really was not as good as just carefully using a utility knife.  Be sure to put a sacrificial surface below your foam when cutting!

Step 3: Drill a Single Hole.

Drill a single hole centered longways down the 3" length foam piece.  See photo.  I used a drill press and some wood blocks to help keep the hole positioned properly.  I was unable to drill all the way through with the drill press (the travel was not long enough).  So I drilled what I could one direction and then flipped the piece over and drilled the rest meeting the holes in the middle. 

I believe you could probably avoid the double drilling by just using a hand-held drill. 

Step 4: Apply Double-sided Tape.

Apply the double sided tape to the side which will adhere to the wall or whatever surface to which you will be mounting.  Take great care to preserve the waxy paper on the outside.  This allows you to keep your pieces on the shelf loose and ready to be stuck whenever you want to - just peel and stick etc...

Cut off any excess tape. 

Now you should have a 1" x 3" x 5/8" foam piece with a a hole longways.  And also double sided tape on one side.
See photo.

Step 5: Mark and Cut the Final Pieces.

BEFORE CUTTING INDIVIDUAL SMALL PIECES, cut one slit longways down the side.  See photo.

After cutting the slit, you need to mark and cut the final pieces. 
I marked mine at 1/2" increments.  (so that means I got 6 pieces out of my 3" larger piece). 

I cut some with the Paper Cutter- but frankly the utility knife was probably better.

Step 6: Hang Your Cord(s)

Now you can peel off the waxy sticker cover and adhere the block to whatever wall etc that you like. 
Just push the cord into the slit and it will stay put due to the "pinching" effect of the design.

Note:  You may want to experiment with different sizes of holes so that you can make the wire a loose fit or a tighter fit etc...
Another Note:  You may want to arrange so the non-textured side faces out on finished product.  Whatever you like!