How to Cut and Strip Fabric-Covered Wire

Safe, durable and stylish electrical connections for your favorite lighting fixtures start with accurate wire stripping. You’ll have to remove the outer fabric layer without slicing the wires underneath–otherwise, an electrical short might occur and your lighting solution may not work. And what DIY-er wants that?

We’ve shared our three favorite techniques for wire-stripping, perfect for whatever tools you have on hand. Learn the techniques for stripping fabric-covered wire below–it’s an easy DIY project for any skill level!

To make sure your wire-stripping project goes smoothly, we recommend having the following tools:

• Color Cord 3000 (or your own stripping tool, like a razor)
• Electrical Tape
• Masking Tape (or super glue)
• Pliers

Stripping wire with a Color Cord 3000 or your own stripping tool is definitely the safest and easiest method to strip fabric-covered wire. But we understand that you might not have one on hand. That’s why we’ll be sharing three different methods for stripping fabric-covered wire, so having a stripping tool, razor blade, and and super glue isn’t necessary for this tutorial. 

We do recommend having both electrical tape and masking tape for your project. Masking tape is great to hold down the fabric braiding of your cord, and electrical tape works well for insulating your electrical connection, so don’t skimp on these.

Grab your fabric-covered electrical wire and measure 1.25” from the tip. Wrap about 1” of masking tape over the wire to protect it.

If you don’t have masking tape on hand, you can use super glue. Take your glue and apply it .5” from the base of your fabric covered-wire. Wait for the super glue to dry completely.

If you are using a Color Cord 3000, you will need to calibrate your measurements so you don’t cut the conductor wires and hit the internal wires. This is important! Stripping electrical wires with an appropriate tool like a Color Cord 3000 is perhaps the easiest and safest way to strip fabric-covered wire.

At the tape’s midsection (or the glue’s midsection), use your Color Cord 3000 to strip the wire’s PVC housing and expose the three conductor wires. They should be green, black and white

If you only have a razor blade on hand, you can use this as an alternative. Lightly cut around the midsection of the masking tape. You’ll want to avoid cutting the internal wires.

Next, you should remove the PVC housing from around the wire. If it doesn’t come off easily, continue twisting until it’s completely separated from the wire.

Now that your conductor wires are fully exposed, add a piece of masking tape to the base of your wire to prevent the fabric from sliding while you work.

You can also use glue instead of tape for this step. Simply apply more super glue onto the base of the exposed wire where they meet the unstripped PVC housing. Make sure it dries before proceeding to the next step.

Strip the end of each wire with your pliers to expose about .25” of copper wire underneath.

Successfully stripped your wires, but have other questions about how to install your lighting fixtures? Check out other relevant tutorials from Color Cord Company.