How to put lighted yard figures away so they come back

Pop up holiday figures rarely die outdoors in December. They die in storage, from damp fabric, kinked cords and a wire frame folded the wrong way.

Dry them twice

Unplug the figures on a dry afternoon and carry them into shade. Wipe off dust and any sap or grit with a barely damp cloth, then leave them open for a full day. The fabric skin on a pop up figure holds moisture in its seams, and a damp skin packed into a dark box is how mildew gets started. Mildew then eats at the stitching and leaves gray spots that never fully wipe away. Direct sun is a poor shortcut, because red dyes fade fastest of all and a season of afternoon light has already taken some.

Test before you fold

Plug the lights in once while the figure is still open. A dead section is easy to find now and hard to find in late November, in the dark, with cold fingers. Look along the cord for cracks where it left the frame. Outdoor cord insulation stiffens in cold weather and splits where it has been bent sharply, so a nick that looks cosmetic can become a bare spot in a wet week. Replace anything cracked rather than taping it for another year.

Fold with the frame, not against it

The wire frame inside these figures is spring steel, built to twist into a flat coil. Hold the figure by its widest points and turn it the way it wants to go, letting it collapse into loops. Forcing a fold in another direction bends the wire past its memory, and it will sag next year. Fasten the coil with the built in tie or a soft strap. Wrap the cord loosely around a piece of cardboard, never tightly around the frame, since a tight wrap puts the same crease in the insulation for ten months.

Choose the place for the box

Dryness matters more than temperature. A cold, dry attic is fine. A garage floor is not, because concrete pulls moisture upward into anything resting on it. Use a rigid box or a wooden chest with a loose cloth lining, which lets trapped air escape, instead of a sealed plastic bag that holds damp in. Set it off the floor, write the contents on the lid, and tuck the stakes in separately after wiping them dry so rust does not stain the fabric.