If you use a lot of tools, you know they can quickly become cluttered. This happens to mechanics and carpenters at work, businesses where people share equipment, drivers with tool boxes in their trucks, and homeowners with work tools in the garage or garden. In some large workplaces, tools can even be stolen. The key to keeping everything where it needs to be is figuring out how to organize your tools logically.
Never lose tools again with a foam organizer
In many cases, the best toolbox organizer is the one you customize yourself. Toolboxes and tool boxes are all slightly different, as are the ways people use tools and how often they use them. The first step to getting organized is choosing a foam tool kit or other tool foam product. You can then customize this foam to fit your needs. You can create a single tool tray organizer or a drawer organizer. You can also cut foam for each drawer in your tool box.
Tool Box Blackout Foam
To help you find the perfect tool organization solution, we’ve put together a list of 19 tips and tricks to inspire you. These toolbox organization ideas include suggestions for getting the most out of foam, tips for cutting foam, and tips for using foam in unique ways. Read on to learn how to create the tool manager you're looking for.
1) Create the layout before cutting the foam
No matter which type of foam lining you use, you'll likely need to cut it to fit your toolbox drawers and tools. To maximize foam and achieve the best layout, don't start cutting until you have a plan.
Toolbox Organizer
First, place all the tools you need in the foam top drawer. Stop and think about what is the best arrangement and sorting order. Try to keep the tools you use close together. You may want to place more frequently used tools closer to the front of the drawer so they can be accessed more quickly. Once you have the layout you want, use a pen, pencil, or marker to trace out all the tools. Then you can start cutting.
This tip sounds simple but is some of the best advice when it comes to cutting tool foam. If you start cutting without a plan, you're more likely to place the tool poorly and end up wasting material.
2) Make a shadow board for your toolbox
Tool boxes and packing foam come in a variety of styles, sizes and colors. Some types of foam come in a single color - often called foam drawer liners - while some include stackable arrangements of two colors. These foam tool organizer sets come in two colors, with a dark foam top layer (usually black or blue) and a bright bottom layer. The bright second layer will reveal itself when you cut out the shape of the tool on the top layer and place it on top of the second layer. This arrangement functions like a shadow board (which people tend to associate with tools mounted or hung on the wall); whenever a tool goes missing from a drawer, you'll immediately know it's not where it belongs.
Play Video: Tool Tray Organizer
Tool box masking foam takes tool organization to the next level by pointing out what you're missing. This is especially helpful if you take your toolbox to multiple locations. At the end of the day, you can pack up and know that you have all the tools that come with it. If you're working in an area where foreign object damage (FOD) is a problem, masking panels can make a big difference.
These shaded foam kits are also ideal for facilities adopting lean manufacturing practices such as Kaizen or 5S. 5S is a systematic organizational and housekeeping approach that advocates that everything has its place and is in its proper place. Multi-colored tool foam can help facilitate such procedures.
3) Use a drywall T-square to draw lines
When you outline your gadget, drawing straight lines may not be a problem. You can easily track the tool itself. However, if you need to draw long straight lines to cut a piece of tool foam to size, a straight edge, such as a drywall T-square, can make the task much easier.
Align the short end of the T-square with the edge of the foam and cut along the length of the device. Your edges will be perfectly straight, so your toolbox foam insert will fit snugly into the toolbox drawer.
Hot knife for trimming tool foam
4) Use the right tools to cut foam
Most foam tool organizers and tool foam boards are made from cross-linked closed-cell foam and are designed to be water-resistant and resistant to harsh chemicals and oils. They are made of durable material, but that doesn't mean cutting the foam will be too difficult. You just need the right tools.
foam tool
In most cases, a simple tool such as a utility blade or X-Acto knife will cut through tool foam. These blades are fairly small, allowing you to cut small shapes with ease.
You can also use a heavy-duty foam hot knife for foam cutting. You can use these knives to make clean, precise cuts. They are helpful for large cutting projects and for cutting thick foam.
Tool organization with tool foam
5) Cut finger holes for easy picking up
If a tool is clinging to the tool box foam, it will be difficult to pick it up quickly. You don't want to leave too much space around the tool, though, as it could slip. An effective way to solve this problem is to cut a semicircle on each side of the tool handle so you can reach out and grab it.
You can cut out the circle with a knife, but it's easier to use a hole punch (the type of metal used to cut perfect circles in plastic, leather, wood, and other materials). Before you make holes for the tools, though, make sure you cut out all the shapes on the foam board. This way you can evaluate the space you have and figure out where the most logical place to place the hole will be for easy access to the tool.
6) Cut a horizontal strip for easier picking
In some cases, it makes more sense to cut all the tools in a drawer into a strip so you can easily pick up any of them. For example, this method works if you have a wrench drawer with several sizes of wrenches placed side by side. The wrenches may be too close together to use the punch method, while the horizontal strip method may produce a cleaner finished product.
Consider using a ruler to trace this line and cut the foam so that it neatly bisects your tool.
pliers organizer
7) Place gadgets close together to save space
Tool box foam boards are great for organizing smaller tools that would otherwise be thrown together in a drawer. When you use foam to keep these tools neatly arranged, you don't have to dig through a pile of tools to find the size you need. This method is great for creating DIY wrench organizers, socket organizers, and screwdriver organizers. You can see an example of a plier organizer below.
When you place small tools on foam, you can maximize space by fitting the tools closely together. Either place them side by side, facing the same direction, or put them together like a jigsaw puzzle. You may want to try several layouts before settling on the best option.
Toolbox Organizer
8) Alternate handle directions to save more space
Another way to organize your drawers with gadgets is to alternate the orientation of the tools to maximize space. This works great for pliers, screwdrivers, and other tools with handles that have narrow and wide ends.
It's usually a good idea to maximize space this way, but you don't have to shove everything into drawers if that doesn't make sense to you. Sometimes it makes more sense for your application to space tools in multiple drawers. Choose a layout that gives you the organized toolbox you need.
Toolbox organization ideas
9) Don’t forget room for wires and batteries
When you're planning the toolbox foam layout for your power tools, don't forget to make room for cords and batteries. Leaving space for these accessories will prevent them from getting lost and damage to the cords. The cutouts for the wires don't need to be perfectly shaped, but they do need to be large enough to fit the wires. Make sure to unroll the power cord and keep track of it so you can install it into the space smoothly in the future.
toolbox drawer foam
10) Use thick foam for larger tools
Foam tool kits are great for small to medium tools, but for larger tools like drills, you may need thicker foam. It also makes sense to use this thick foam in the deeper drawers of your tool chest so that tools don't sit too low in the drawer.
Thick tool control foam is usually constructed from thinner, layered foam pieces that are glued together, so you can cut out a few layers and install tools into the foam without cutting the foam completely. This means the bottom of your tool will also be protected from damage.
11) Cut thick foam with retractable blade
Foam drawer organizer
Using a retractable blade to cut thick foam will help you cut the exact depth you need without cutting through the foam. Before you start cutting, measure the blade against the side of the object you want to place into the foam. Make sure the blade depth matches the depth of the object. Then you can start cutting.
If you put an object into foam and it sticks out too much at the top, you can always go back and remove another thin layer of foam from the bottom of the section you've cut out. It's best to be conservative when cutting foam so you don't accidentally cut too much at once.
