Stripping wires is an essential skill for any DIY electrical project or home repair.
Time A few minutes
ComplexityBeginner
CostVaries
Introduction
Learn how to strip wire with our step-by-step instructions, covering various wire types and tools for safe and efficient cable preparation.
Tools Required
- Automatic wire stripper
- Network/data cable wire stripper
- Utility knife
- wire stripper
Materials Required
- Electrical wire
If you have electronics at home or any DIY electrical projects in the works, you will eventually need to strip some electric wires. It’s not too hard, but you’ll want to know what you’re doing before you start jamming sharp things into wires! The purpose of stripping wires is to remove the plastic insulation so that the bare conductor is exposed to make a solid electrical connection to other wires, devices, and terminals. Safe, durable electrical connections begin with clean, accurate wire stripping. Wire strippers are the go-to tool for this job and most wire strippers can perform several different tasks, but their primary purpose is to strip the insulation from the ends of wires. Ninety percent of the time, you use your wire stripper to strip the same gauge wire.
A utility knife works best for stripping sheathing from cords. It takes a sharp blade, a steady hand, and concentration to control the cut. The key is to control the depth of the cut to avoid cutting or gouging the electrical wires. But once you master the technique, you’ll be surprised how quickly and accurately you can remove cord sheathing. This technique works on a cord and on a plastic-sheathed Romex cable.
Project step-by-step (11)
Step 1
Determine the wire gauge
Knowing the wire gauge size you are working with allows you to remove the insulation with wire strippers accurately. Most often, the gauge will be printed on the wire’s insulation. 12-gauge and 14-gauge wires are very common, and a cool trick to identify them is to remember that 12-gauge wires are about the thickness of a nickel, and 14-gauge wires are about the thickness of a dime.
Step 2
Removing insulation from wire
In your wire strippers, insert the end one-inch of wire into the correlating gauge slot. Holding the wire strippers perpendicular to the wire, squeeze the handle and push the stripper with your thumb to remove the insulation. Your natural instinct may be to pull the wire through the strippers, but you should actually hold the wire firmly and push the strippers away from it. If you cannot cut through the wire insulation, or if you break the wire where you squeezed the wire strippers onto it, chances are that you are using the wrong gauge slot on the wire strippers.
Step 3
Automatic wire stripper method
Automatic wire strippers are slick! They come in many shapes and sizes, but most just require inserting one inch of wire into the correlating gauge slot at the end and squeezing the handle like a traditional wire stripper. The tool will then cut, hold, and push all in one motion. Automatic wire strippers are quicker and extremely convenient, especially when you have many wires to strip.
Step 4
Stripping Electrical Cords
Score a circle around the cable jacket, but don’t cut through it into the wire insulation. This technique may look dangerous, but it’s safe to apply very light pressure with the knife and keep your thumb on the opposite side of the cord. (That said, I still choose to wear gloves when I have them available.) Carefully guide the knife around the cable until you reach your starting point.
Bend the cable at the scored line to break the plastic covering. Bend it the opposite way to tear the other side and slide it off. Inspect the insulation on the wires underneath to make sure the blade didn’t nick them. If you see slices, cut off the cable and try again.
Step 5
How To Strip Romex Wire
Utility knife method
Like stripping electrical cords, score the plastic sheathing with a utility knife. Don’t cut all the way through the plastic. Apply very light pressure with the knife, keeping your finger on the opposite side of the cable. Bend and break the sheathing and slide it off. Strip the individual wires as needed.
Step 6
Wire stripper method
Some wire strippers have long, slender wire stripping openings that read 12/2 and 14/2, specifically for stripping plastic-sheathed cable. These numbers refer to the gauge of the wire and the number of wires in the cable, excluding the ground wire. Thus, a 12/2 wire contains three wires inside its sheathing: two conductor wires and one ground wire, all of which are 12-gauge thick.
If your wire stripper has a wire sheathing cutter, you remove the sheathing like you strip a single wire. Align the plastic-sheathed cable with the notch that matches the wire gauge you’re using—either 14/2 or 12/2—and squeeze down to cut the sheathing. Then, slide the sheathing off to expose the insulated wires underneath and strip them individually as needed.
Step 7
How to strip UF cable
Peel an edge
UF (underground feeder) cable is a special type of plastic-sheathed cable used in underground wiring applications. Stripping it requires a slightly different technique since the sheathing surrounds each conductor; you can’t just score it and slide it off.
Peel the plastic sheathing from the wires underneath with a sharp utility knife. Slide your thumb along the underside of the wire while you pull the knife along the top to remove a thin slice of plastic. This technique takes practice. If you cut through the insulation on the wire underneath, cut off that cable segment and try again.
Step 8
Pull back sheathing
Expose a few inches of wire at the end of the cable. Use your hands, or you could grab the ends of the wires with the stripper in one hand and the plastic sheath in the other. Peel the sheathing back to where you started the cut.
Step 9
Cut excess sheathing
Slide your knife between the loose sheathing and wires and cut toward the unstripped cable to remove the excess plastic sheathing.
Step 10
Stripping Communication Wires
Open the jaws on the network or data cable stripper slightly and slip the cable into the largest groove. Rotate the tool clockwise. If it doesn’t score the outer sheathing, move it to the next smaller slot and try again. Bend the cable to break the sheathing. Then, slide the scored sheathing from the wires. Inspect the twisted communication wiring to make sure the insulation isn’t sliced.
Step 11
FAQs
How much wire insulation should be stripped off?
The amount of wire insulation stripped off will vary depending on your project. Typically, between 3/4 and 1 in. is enough insulation to strip off. Removing too much wire insulation increases the risk of the exposed wires coming into contact with conductive materials or damaging the exposed wire.
What are the functions of wire strippers?
Wire strippers are made in many shapes and sizes and are equipped with various additional tool functions. Some of the basic functions are using the tip/nose of the strippers for holding, twisting, or creating hooks or loops in wire. They come with various size stripping blade slots for stripping different wire sizes. You can also find crimpers for crimping connectors, Wire cutters for cutting wire, and small bolt shears (usually 6/32 and 8/32) for cutting bolts.
What tool do I need to strip thin wires?
Standard wire strippers can usually strip wires between 10-and 20-gauge. But if you are installing a phone jack or a traditional doorbell, you will need a fine gauge wire stripper that is capable of stripping such fine wires.
Originally Published: August 01, 2018
