How to Strip Wire

If you are planning on doing a minor electrical project yourself, you may need to do some wire stripping. Follow these steps.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wire strippers

1. Measure and mark a point 1 to 1.5 inches down on your piece of wire.

2. Take your wire strippers and score a line all the way around the wire at the mark. Don't cut all the way through. Just score a line that slices the protective coating and not the actual wires.

3. Take the wire strippers, and find the measurement marked on them for the size wire you're using for your project.

4. Place the wire inside the wire strippers where the correct wire measurement is. Place it above the score line you made earlier.

5. Gently pull up on the wire strippers to pull the wire coating off of the wire. Trim the wires, if needed, to make them all straight.

6. Repeat Steps 1 through 5, if you accidentally cut through too far and damage the wires.

Tips & Warnings

• Take your time when stripping wires as the wires are delicate and fragile. You can easily cut through the wire insulation too far and damage the wires. You can always try again until you get it, but if it happens too many times, there may not be enough wire left to do your project.