K&J Magnetics mascot, Joe Magneato
Icon representing a shopping cart View Cart ( 0 )

All orders placed & paid online by 1PM ET

(M-F) will be shipped the same day!

Details
Specials

Top Ways to Get Organized with Magnets

Cool ways to organize your home or office with magnets and how to store them properly when not in use

Magnets can be used all throughout your home and office to help keep things organized. We've written many blog articles on similar topics already, so we'll put them all together in one place, as well as share some simple, new ideas. We'll also look at a few ways to safely store your collection of neodymium magnets.

Pics of various use cases for magnets
So many ways to use magnets!

Home & Office Organization

Below are links to previous articles we've written, relating to organization - which is your favorite?

What about some new ideas?

Magnetic cable management

Dual monitors, charging stations, headphones, keyboards, etc all make for a great setup, but the cables can quickly turn into a mess. Use magnets as a cord organizer and keep your cables neat! For one or two smaller cables, our Magnetic Hooks can be a great solution.

For multiple and/or unruly cables, feed them through the eye hook of our MMS-G eye hook mounting magnets cup mounting magnets.

Picture of magnetic hooks holding up cords for organization
Two HOOK-RED hook magnets hold this charging cable in place.
Eye-hook mounting magnet holding up cords for organization
Some MMS-G-X4 eye hook mounting magnets keep these cords neat.

Magnetic trash bag holders

Tired of the trash bag always falling into the trashcan? Use magnets! We used some B884 block magnets around the top edge of a steel trashcan to hold the bag tight and prevent it from falling into the can. If your trashcan isn't magnetic, you could sandwich the bag between attracting magnets. Some B884 block magnets on the outside and inside could still work, depending on the thickness of the trash can wall. Some B888PC plastic coated magnets could also work well.

Block magnets holding trash bag to metal trashcan
The B884 block magnets work well with a steel trashcan.
White plastic coated block magnets holding trash bag to trashcan
Pairs of B888PC-WHT sandwich the bag plastic can.
Magnetic gaming room design using magnets
A few games and controller easily displayed using magnets!

Magnetic controller and game holder

Do you have a steel surface near your gaming setup? If so, magnets are ideal for gaming room design and an easy way to display your games, as well as a game controller holder. This is a simple way to make magnetic gaming room decorations.

We used some Magnetic Hooks to display game cases, which is simple and easy. You could also add a D83 disc magnet to the back of the hook, to create more of a standoff and allow the game to lean further back against the wall.

We use some scrap sheet steel and bent it to make a controller holder. Then, a RX054TP-N52 rubber coated magnet was used to hold the steel holder to the magnetic wall. This setup was strong enough to hold any controller size, and made for a clean display.

Switch game case hanging on hook magnet
Some magnetic hooks hold the games well on this steel wall.
Switch controller hanging on wall with sheet steel and rubber magnet
Simple sheet steel bent to hold controller, with a rubber magnet holding it to the wall.

How to store neodymium magnets

Do you have a collection of magnets? If you do, first, kudos to you! You're on your way to being a magnet-geek like the rest of us. But how do you safely store your collection of precious magnets?

There isn't really a right or wrong way for magnet storage, but here are a few tips and tricks:

Sheet steel

Simply pickup a piece of sheet steel from your local hardware store and place your collection of magnets on it, spacing them out a bit. The magnets will stay in place on the steel, rather than attracting to each other.

Magnets attracting to sheet steel and not moving
The magnets attract to the steel and stay put.

Plastic storage container

Use a plastic container to store magnets, like a fishing tackle or jewelry box, that has preinstalled separators. We found some online for a few dollars, and the plastic separators are adjustable.

Plastic isn't magnetic, so the magnets will want to attract to each other, which can sometimes cause a mess. If you have multiple compartments, leave a gap between the different magnets to avoid them attracting to each other. Or, you could cut small steel pieces to glue to the bottom, so that the magnets will stay in place.

Small plastic box with sections and magnets separated into different sections
A small plastic box with dividers.
Small plastic box with stainless steel bottoms and magnets attached to steel
Gluing steel to the bottom keeps the magnets in place.

Tin can

For a smaller collection, place the magnets in a steel can, like an "Altoids" can. This will keep the magnets in place, and contain the field from exiting the can. This method could be good if you plan to travel with magnets on an airplane (always check with your airline on regulations). See our Shielding Materials article.

Magnets being stored in a steel tin with foam padding
Our TIN1 sample kit comes in a steel tin!

Box with foam

We always ship our magnets in a box in order to comply with shipping regulations. Many times, we also put rigid foam in the box to keep the magnets in place. You could simply reuse our packaging and store the magnets in the box you receive from K&J Magnetics. Or, if you have multiple parts, store them in smaller boxes, using foam to keep the magnets centered in the box.

Large fishing magnet in a box surrounded by foam
Our fishing magnets are packaged with foam.
Large fishing magnet in a box with top layer of foam removed
The foam keeps the magnet centered, great for storage.

In summary:

  1. Give them space
  2. Use boxes or dividers to keep magnets separate
  3. Use steel to help keep magnets in place.

If using multiple magnets for a project, we also suggest keeping the stack of magnets stored safely, taking one magnet off the stack at a time to install. This helps avoid the case of two loose magnets slamming together and Magnets breaking each other . See our How to Separate Strong Magnets article as well.

Do you use magnets to organize your home or office? Have you come up with some unique way of storing magnets? Email us, and we'll include your idea here!