Christmas Garland - Top 5 Tips for Buying Lighted Garlands

1) Mini-Christmas Lights are not created equal
Miniature Christmas lights have been the standard for Christmas for a very long time. You will want quality lights on your Christmas Garland. The lights on your garland may be on more than the lights on your Christmas tree. Therefore, it makes sense to get the high-quality, long lasting lights on your garland as well. Look for lights with 170 milliamp (mA) or higher lights. The lights should have a 3 year / 3,000 hour warranty.

2) 3 Strand Limit on Chaining Lighted Garland
The mini-lights on Christmas garlands are Underwriters Laboratory (UL) approved to chain up to three strands of lights together. This safety measure should not be overlooked. The lights will work if you plug more than 3 strands together but the UL clearly states that this is not safe. Since most garlands are 9 foot long, it can be challenging to cover an area longer than 25 feet. If you have the need for longer garland, you may consider 50 or 100 foot commercial Christmas garland as an option.

As a helpful hint, when connecting light strings end-to-end, many people will tie the two cords together in a loop and then plug the ends together. This practice is not recommended. By tying the ends together, there is no way the wires can give to stress. If one of the wires gets caught on something, you want the ends to unplug to prevent damage to the light string. A recommended method would be using electrical tape to wrap the end connectors together. This way, the ends can still unplug if something pulls hard on the wire.

3) Garland Measurements
The majority of garlands are listed as 9 foot garland with no reference to the diameter. Typically, this means the garland is 6 to 8 inches in diameter. As the diameter increases to 10 to 20 inches, the garlands move into a more premium price structure. A thinner garland is more useful for single door structures and lining smaller entry ways. The thicker garlands tend to be used on longer banisters or outside on the tops of buildings. As a general guideline, the farther the garland is away from view, the larger the diameter required.

When measuring the garland diameter, it is the measurement from the tip to tip while outstretched. The styling may cause a smaller finished diameter.

4) Outdoor Garlands
For lighted Christmas garlands, it is important to make sure the lights on the garland are rated for outdoor use.

Direct sun light is something to consider when purchasing garlands. Particularly, if you are purchasing white garlands, you should put the garlands out of direct sun light. A 3-4 hour exposure is probably not harmful but 12-16 hours a day may cause fading or discoloration.

5) Mounting Garlands
If you wish to suspend the Christmas garland, hide the mounting apparatus, use high strength fishing line so it appears the garland is floating.

The garland grabber is a very popular item. There are two types of garland grabber. The first is used to mount garlands on flat surfaces such as a mantel. The second type is used to mount the garlands on banisters or railings. These are useful because you can hang the garland to the surface without damage and has a space for bows.