My lovely wife decided to clean up her jewelry chest. She tells me I'm very good at untangling necklaces. I think she's just buttering me up; anyhow here's how I do it.

Step 1: Gather Your Tools

2 - safety pins (The clasp of the safety pin makes them easier to hold than a sewing needle.)

Tweezers (use tweezers with extra care, you could damage a chain by using too much force)

Magnifying glass or reading glasses

and a dark t-shirt to work on. I've tried a towel but the weave is too loose and the chains sometimes grab the material.

Oh yeah... Tangled necklaces.

Step 2: Unclasp and Loosen

Now the work starts. Unclasp the ends and loosen the knot from the middle out. These two necklaces have very small links and look alike which makes separating them even harder. Use your pins to pull a loop out from the knot. As you are gently pulling see if one of the ends gets pulled toward the knot, if so then keep loosening and get the end routed through the tangle and undo the loop. If the knot tightens up stop pulling and try another part of the knot.

Step 3: Coffee Break

When the frustration builds and the wife brings you two more tangled necklaces; take a break. Relax a while and come back to it in twenty or thirty minutes. I'm into this one about thirty minutes at this point and need a break.

Step 4: Back to Work

Now I'm refreshed and can get back at it. Continue gently pulling and untangling. There are two ways to fail here, give up or break the chain... don't do that. Slow and steady will get you to your goal.

Step 5: TAH-DAH!!

Did it! Counting a twenty minute break this took just short of two hours. The next two bundles took about twenty minutes each. When my beautiful bride is happy everybody's happy.