Necklaces tangle for one reason: they are free to move in a pile. Every solution below is a version of the same idea, which is stopping the chain from doubling back on itself. They are ordered by how much they cost, starting at nothing.
The short version
Hanging is the only method that makes tangling impossible rather than less likely. Everything else reduces the odds. If you keep necklaces in a drawer, the drinking straw trick costs nothing and works better than most jewellery boxes.
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1. The drinking straw, free
Thread one end of the chain through a drinking straw, then fasten the clasp. The chain is now held in a straight line and physically cannot loop through itself. Cut the straw down for shorter chains.
It looks like a student solution and it is the single most effective free method there is. It is also the only one that survives a suitcase.
2. Fasten the clasp, always
An open clasp is a hook. It catches on other chains and on the same chain, and almost every knot starts there. Fastening the clasp before putting a necklace down removes most tangles on its own, and costs nothing but the habit.
3. Hang them, around $10
Vertical storage is the only approach where tangling is not just unlikely but impossible, because no two chains ever touch. A wall-mounted necklace organiser costs around $10 and holds a large collection in the space of a picture frame.
One trade-off worth knowing. Hanging jewellery leaves it exposed to air, and air is what tarnishes silver. If your pieces are sterling and you wear them rarely, a closed bag will keep them brighter than an open rack. Hang what you wear weekly; bag what you wear twice a year.
4. One bag per necklace, around $11
The compromise between hanging and a drawer. Each chain gets its own small pouch, so it cannot meet another chain, and the bag also slows tarnish. Anti-tarnish storage bags do both jobs at once, because the material absorbs the sulphur in the air that turns silver dark.
This is what we would recommend for anyone with more than a handful of silver pieces and no wall to spare.
5. A proper case for travelling, around $25
A suitcase is the worst environment a chain will ever be in: a pile, shaken for hours. Wrapping necklaces in a scarf does not work, and hotel drawers are where earrings go to die.
A travel jewellery case with individual zipped compartments is the fix if you travel often. If you travel twice a year, use the straw and save the money.
What does not work
Deep jewellery boxes with one large compartment. They are pretty and they are a tangle machine: everything slides into the same corner the moment the box moves.
Hooks that are too close together. If two chains can touch when the door swings, they will eventually knot. Space them a hand's width apart.
Zip bags with several necklaces in one bag. The bag stops dust, not motion.
Before you store anything
Wipe each piece with a soft cloth first. Skin oils and sweat left on a chain overnight are what start tarnish, and storing a dirty chain in a sealed bag makes it worse, not better. Dry it completely if it has been anywhere near water.
Related
If you are reading this because something is already knotted: how to untangle a necklace chain. If it came out of the drawer dark rather than knotted: how to clean a tarnished silver necklace.
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