Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

Storing your clothes: Hangers 101

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Having a nice wardrobe won’t mean squat if you don’t take care of it.  Much of extending the life of your clothing is making sure they’re properly stored for that great swath of time you’re not actually wearing the things.  And hangers play a large role.  Here are four common types of hangers and suggestions on what should be hung on them.  
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#1.  The Worthy Investment: Wide Shoulder Suit Hangers w/ non locking pant bar
All hail the King of the Closet.

What hangs on them: Suit jackets & their matching pants, blazers, sportcoats, overcoats, etc.

The dream/materialistic/totally wasteful scenario would be to hang everything on these things.  But, if wishes were trousers, the pantless would thrive.  (?)  As mentioned over here, they’re expensive.  But worth it.  The shoulders are about two inches wide.  Perfect for supporting your jackets against the cruel forces of gravity.  Find some with no-slip pant bars.  Those pincher-bar versions can leave creases.  And consider getting one for your topcoat or peacoat.

 

#2.  The Workhorse:  The Basic Plastic Hanger
Better than wire in every way.  Unless you’re locked out of your car.

What hangs on them: Dress shirts, polos if you’d like, jeans and chinos in a pinch, and anything that you might be tempted to hang on a wire hanger.  

Wire hangers + shirt shoulders = a bad situation.  Now, plastic hangers don’t have near as much surface area as the wide shouldered hangers at #1, but they’re easier on your shirts than wire.  And the cost is much, much lower than wood hangers at #1.  One drawback to plastic hangers is that these eat up space, both in your closet and garment bag.  Keep a few wire hooked-hangers with plastic shoulders on hand for traveling.

 

#3. The Cheap Pants Hanger:  Wire Hanger with a Cardboard cover
Cheap, bent, and listing to starboard. Still works great.

What they’re used for: Pants of all kinds.  Jeans, chinos, trousers, etc…  That and some drycleaners will fold your sweaters and drape them over these things.  

The punter of the hanger arsenal.  A little funny looking, inexpensive, & easily replaceable.  But when you need one you need one.  It’s basic physics.  Distribute that downward force of gravity over a larger surface area, and the effects on your pants (wrinlking + creasing at point of contact) will be greatly reduced.  You’ll always get creases if you hang your chinos and jeans over a wire hanger.  Back to the price… come to think of it, has anyone ever purchased these?  Where would you even do that?  Do Dry Cleaners have a monopoly on access to these?

 

#4. The Luxury Trouser Contraption:  Cedar clamp hanger / Hanger w/ clips
The steamer users friend.

What hangs on them:  Dress trousers, suit pants, pants and shirts you’re steaming

Got a steamer for your suits?  Awesome.  You’re going to want one of these.  They’re great at helping you avoid steam burns.  For these hangers, pants are either suspended from the waist, or some choose to hang them inverted from the cuffs (those same types are usually the one’s who hang the toilet paper roll with the sheet descending from the wall side instead of over the top).  Usually the inverted style crowd uses a more traditional, cedar clamp style hanger, and these hangers with clips are often used for shirts instead of pants.  Here’s a ringing endorsement.
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What NOT to hang:

The benefits of avoiding wrinkling through hanging is far outweighed by the stretching and hanger-bumps (see below).  When a store hangs a sweater or heavy knit on display it might just make it less desirable in the eyes of a shopper.  They look terrible and droopy on hangers.  Fold those knits up and store them in a drawer or closed closet w/cedar blocks.  Take sand paper to the blocks once or twice a year to refresh their smell.

An otherwise great-looking, decently trim, casual sweatshirt-like crew from jcp.  90% cotton & 10% cashmere.

Comments

  1. What do you think of those thin-profile plastic hangers with the anti-slip linings? Better or worse than the basic plastic hangers?

  3. “…or some choose to hang them inverted from the cuffs (those same types are usually the one’s who hang the toilet paper roll with the sheet descending from the wall side instead of over the top).”

    I almost spit out my coffee when I read this. I am that guy.

  4. “those same types are usually the one’s who hang the toilet paper roll with the sheet descending from the wall side instead of over the top”

    This is excellent. Well played, sir.

  6. I use wood hangers for most things, and try to use wider-shouldered hangers on my jackets. For shirts, though, I just picked up a large bag of plastic hangers at the thrift shop for $1.

  7. I love #1, have far too many #2, return #3 to my dry cleaner (helps the environment!), and give #4 to my sister. I used to hang my trousers with clips, but stopped doing so after noticing what the clips did to them (crease marks requiring another ironing touchup session).

  8. One tip: Try to use the same one (or max two) types of hangers in your closet. It will look a hell of lot better. Notice when you see a professional photo of a closet you admire – you’ll see they use the same hangers.

    I use this type for shirts:
    http://www.woodenhangersusa.com/walnut-brass-wood-hangers/62-flat-top-hanger.html
    And this for suits and coats (same style, just thicker)
    http://www.woodenhangersusa.com/walnut-brass-wood-hangers/192-curved-luxury-walnut-wooden-top-hanger.html

    (didn’t buy from this site BTW, just showing the picture)

    and then for pants I use velvet hangers:
    http://www.amazon.com/Closet-Complete-Ultra-Velvet-Hangers/dp/B0037KMSS2

    When you get the wire ones from the dry cleaners, take your clothes off and put them on your own hanger.

    You’ll be amazed how much more incredible your wardrobe will look.

  9. IKEA is a good source for inexpensive wooden hangers. I avoid the plastic ones altogether now.

  10. I use those cedar clamp pants hangers and LOVE them. But I’ve got a question. I have the wide shoulder wood hangers for suits, but they seem like they’re too wide. Wide as in across the width, not too fat. The end of the hanger goes past the shoulder hem probably two inches on each side. I haven’t noticed any fabric deformation but it worries me. Do they make narrower hangers for men with the build of a taut pre-teen Swedish boy?

  11. The trick to avoiding “shoulder bumps” is to hang items up inside out. Since the bumps will be reversed when the shirt is turned right side out (divots instead of bumps) they will be smoothed out when the fabric is against your shoulder.

  13. I’ll shamelessly plug my own hangers: http://www.hangerproject.com. The most important thing overlooked in the article (and by important, I mean HUGE) is the fact that one size doesn’t fit all! If your hanger is too wide or too narrow, it doesn’t matter what it was made of. It’s still not right for you and your clothes. Which is why we make four sizes…

  14. I’ve had these wood IKEA hangers for years and you can’t go wrong at $4.99 for an 8 pack!

  15. I still have the wooden hangers I got when I was stationed at the Marine Barracks in DC. Almost 30 years now. Instead of augmenting with plastic hangers, we’ve just bought more wooden hangers. They really make a difference in how things hang together in the closet. Easier to see what’s in there, nothing gets hidden.

  16. Yeah, I’ve been using the IKEA woodens for ages. Love em and dirt cheap. Closet looks great with em.

  17. I fold my sweaters in half, then hang on a hanger with the armpit at the top and the sleeves and body drapped over… No more bumps…