How to Buy Clothes Hangers

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Closets can be a mess of old broken hangers, wire hangers from the drycleaners and a rainbow of colors that makes your closet look practically psychedelic. There is a wide variety of options for hangers, and good styles to suit each type of clothing. Read on for guidelines to buy clothes hangers that will be kind to your clothes and easier on the eye.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step1

Evaluate your needs.

Step2

Evaluate what you have. Your closet will look more orderly and be easier on the eye if your hangers are as uniform as possible. Unless you are planning on a full replacement, try to make logical choices when buying additional hangers. If you have a lot of white plastic hangers, try to buy a similar product.

Step3

Evaluate your budget. If you pay less for each hanger, you can buy a lot more, but you may have to sacrifice quality. If you want to redo your whole closet, but don't have the budget for it, you can do the replacement over time. Choose a traditional hanger style, like wooden hangers. This way you can buy a few at a time, and won't have to worry about them being discontinued before you get them all.

Step4

Select heavy hangers for suits, coats and ornate dresses. Thin wire or plastic hangers can often bow under the weight of heavier items, causing the clothes to wrinkle and sag. You can try wooden hangers or special thickly molded plastic hangers made especially for coats and suits. Often you can get wider hangers, that better support the tailored shoulders of these garments. Just be sure you measure your closet space first--some narrow closets only allow for the traditionally sized hangers.

Step5

Shirt dimpled from traditional hanger; white rounded hanger (pictured) is a better choice. Try rounded hangers for shirts and blouses. When the shoulders of a garment are wider than the hanger, those pointed ends can stretch the fabric and make unattractive dimples when you wear the shirt. Hangers with rounded edges help alleviate this problem and keep your clothes looking like they should.

Step6

Textured velvet hanger and hanger with rubber inserts. Select textured hangers for garments with wide necks or flimsy straps. Some clothes just won't stay on a normal hanger, slipping off and ending up in a ball on the floor of your closet. Many hangers are molded with notches for spaghetti straps, but there are also some great textured hangers that will work with a wide variety of garments. You can buy hangers covered in velvet or plastic hangers with rubber built in to help grab the fabric.

Step7

Choose hangers for trousers. If you'll be hanging your trousers folded in half, avoid the clip style hangers. These can pull the fabric and leave creases and dimples you'll have difficulty ironing out. Wooden hangers can be a nice choice, as the dowels are wider to help prevent creases when you drape the trousers over them. Hangers with non-slip surfaces on the dowels are also helpful to keep them from sliding off.

Step8

Note difference between teethed clip and clip with rubber pads. Choose clip hangers for skirts. This is an area where uniformity might not be possible. For delicate fabrics, you want to select a clip with a rubber or other gentle covering. This will keep the skirts from being snagged or permanently creased by the clips. However, heavier skirts made of jean or corduroy can often slip right out of these delicate clips. For those you'd want a sturdier hanger with metal or hard plastic clips.

Step9

Choose clip hangers with adjustable settings. When hanging a skirt or trousers (by the waistband), you want the clips to be at just the right distance to keep good tension. You don't want the garment to sag in the middle or have a lot of fabric hanging off the ends where the clips don't reach. Locate the width of hanger that's best for you, then adjust the clips accordingly. (See picture for Step 8.)

Step10

Added hook for accessories. Select special hangers for outfits. You can buy two-piece hangers that allow you to hang suits together or matching tops and skirts. If you have an outfit with an included belt or scarf, you can buy a special hanger with an extra hook for accessories.

Step11

Buy space-saving hangers only when necessary. If you have a small closet, hangers that hold several pairs of trousers or skirts can be very useful. As a general rule, though, stacking clothes this way can be harder to maintain order with (you pull one pair of pants off and the other three pull off with it.) Multiple clips hanging down can dimple and scratch the clothes hanging next to it. Consider how well these space-saver items work before buying.

Step12

Select a store. If you're going to be buying hangers over time, choose a store you shop at regularly to make your purchasing easier. For the widest variety of choices, shop in specialty closet or housewares stores. Shopping for hangers in person has the advantage of allowing you to see the exact color, quality, and strength of the items. The advantage of online shopping, besides convenience, is that you can usually buy a large number of hangers at a time and not worry about the stock being out. You also might find colors and styles online that aren't available in stores.

Step13

Evaluate the items before you buy. If purchasing the hangers in person, look at each one. Make sure there are no breaks or rough areas that can snag and ruin clothes. Gently pull on the hangers to see how they stand up to pressure from heavier garments. If they seem like they'll bow easily, don't buy them.

Step14

Uniform hangers for each section of wardrobe. Buy and replace. When possible, buy hangers in bulk. Buy new matching hangers for all of your trousers, and get rid of flimsy hangers or sets that don't match. You can gradually replace a whole closet this way, buying for each section of your wardrobe at a time. See Tips and Warnings section.

Tips & Warnings

If you have a wide variety of colors and styles of hangers, you might want to consider dividing your clothes using colors or types of hangers.
If you're buying a uniquely styled or colored hanger, buy a bunch at once. These are often specialty items that you won't be able to get again when you want them.