john reeves brought next idea :
This is about those extension power leads ( usually orange coloured from B &
Q etc). Quite often sold for use with electric lawn mowers.

These cables seem to have 'a mind of their own' every time you reel them up
and unreel them.

It's like a 'memory effect' they have, ( as if they are not flexible enough )
and want to keep moving in a direction that they must have been stored in
previously.

This probably sounds like a minor thing. But the total time wasted and
frustration trying to unravel the thing mounts up time after time.

I've tried that trick sailors use in giving it a small twist every time you
reel it around your arm, but its just a bit too stiff to do that
successfully. Has anyone else found a good way to deal with this? It has
crossed my mind that this cable is just too old and has lost what flexibility
it did have once.

Which is the wrong way to treat it. NEVER wind in around your elbow, it
is far too tight a coil and will damage the flex. What I do is hold the
plug end in my right hand then gradually add loops to my right hand,
the loops just about long enough to reach the floor. For every loop I
add, I add a twist to it, so it settles in properly. Finally I just
hang it up on a hook.

Feeding it out, start where I need the socket and work back the plug
finally plugging it in.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk