This is the correct way to tie your shoelaces: study

Over the years we acquire knowledge that will be useful to us on a day-to-day basis, from making the bed to learning to cook. In recent days, users of social networks have discovered that they did not cut an avocado the 'correct' way or did not use the strainer correctly when preparing pasta. Now, a video is circulating that has caused Internet users to question whether they tie their shoelaces correctly.

Tying shoelaces is learned in childhood and over the years is done almost by inertia. However, have you questioned if you do it correctly? According to a publication by the digital media Metro UK, the most common way to tie your shoelaces is the least secure.

It all started when a TikTok user posted a video, which has more than 500,000 views, showing the popular “bunny ear” look quickly falling apart. In addition, he cites a study carried out by the University of California, United States, in which it is mentioned that this way of tying the shoelaces is much weaker since it is based on a false knot.

Two ways: one stronger and safer than the other

“There are two ways to tie the knot (…) The strong version is based on a square knot: two laces crossed on opposite sides, one on top of the other”, details study co-author Christopher Daily.

Photo: TikTok

The weak version consists of a false knot. “The two crossover laces have the same tie, causing them to twist instead of holding when tightened,” he explains.

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Photo: TikTok

The study clarifies that both knots can fail in the same way, but the key is that one of them is stronger than the other.

“We're trying to understand knots from a mechanical perspective, like why you can take two strands and connect them in a certain way that might be very strong, but another way of connecting them is very weak,” explains Oliver O'Reilly, Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering.

The correct way to tie your shoelaces?

Building on that 2017 study, the TikTok account @attn shared a video trying to break down how to tie your shoes correctly.

To achieve this, the user crossed the left lace over the right, making a loop on the right side. Thus, she placed the left loop around that side and passed it through to finally tie it off.

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