I’ve been recently asked a lot about my hangers hacks as a professional organiser. Whatever the state of your wardrobe – whether fully Konmaried or in a more laissez faire state, one thing is clear, it sometimes seems difficult to find a hangers sweet spot. I’ve seen this over and over again, we either have too many hangers that clutter the space or we have too few and struggle to hang our treasured fashionable items properly.
So here is a guide to what to do if you have too many hangers – keep scrolling to find inspiration in managing with fewer hangers and to discover my favourite tips on choosing the right hangers for your wardrobe.
The first of my hangers hacks is to start with a ruthless declutter of hangers and get rid of any that are cracked, bent etc. Once you’ve selected the ones that are not usable anymore, you can check local recycling options before reaching for the rubbish bin. Depending on the material, local recycling centres usually have containers for wood, metal and plastic while the wire ones can go in with scrap metal. Selected Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores have hanger recycling bins.
If after thoroughly decluttering you still find yourself in possession of too many hangers – perhaps because you are experimenting with a seasonal capsule wardrobe and now have blissful ample space in a previously cramped area, here are a few places where you can quickly get rid of unwanted hangers:
– Offer them for free on your local Facebook group, to dry cleaners, vintage shops, Freecycle or Gumtree. When I treated myself to a whole new set of skinny hangers (see below) I personally shifted a bundle of 40 wooden hangers within half an hour of posting an ad on Gumtree offering them for collection.
– If your hangers are in great shape and perhaps more upmarket, you can perhaps offer them in local car boot sales or to a local dress agency.
– Other places that might be interested in collecting extra hangers can be alterations shops or local seamstresses as well as ironing companies.
– Store branded hangers can simply be taken back to the shop they came from.
Please note though – most charity shops don’t take hangers, as they have their own branded ones
– Get creative: if you feel like in the future you might find yourself in need of lots of hangers again so you might regret getting rid of them altogether, find creative uses for them. The internet is absolutely brimming with ideas of making creative use of hangers – like turning them into scarf organisers, jewellery racks, ribbon, thread, or tape storage and so much more. A good point to get you started is this article.
Of course, the hangers you have and hence are available and free are the best. But if you are making a long term investment and want a fresh set of hangers, here are my thoughts. There is not one type of hanger that fits all and luckily the market is full of good options. I do appreciate the space-saving slip-free hangers you can find with a simple online search – they are slim and solve the issue of clothes slipping off without a headache. But some might prefer wooden coat hangers – especially for treasured coats and jackets that need the proper shoulder support. One of the many hangers hacks available is cascading multiple items with the use of special hooks that help you maximise your closet space. Squeeze every inch out of your wardrobe space by using these with the hangers that are linked above. Ideal for grouping similar items i.e. t-shirts, blouses, or for hanging an entire outfit together.
When we moved we used wardrobe boxes that were supplied by the moving company, so just hung the clothes in there on their hangers, on moving day. You can rent/buy boxes from removal companies but be mindful that they are bulky, so not ideal if you are using them for any length of time. Other ideas to organise your hangers during a house move:
– Stack similar hangers together and then use a rubber band (or hair bobbles!) to secure them together. You might want to wrap a bed sheet or blanket around them so they don’t scratch other items once they are bundled. Once they are banded together, a suit carrier is ideal for putting them in for transportation.
– Keep the clothes on the hangers and place them in your suitcases for transporting (wrap a pillowcase or hand towel round the hook part of the hangers to avoid clothes being damaged.
– Keep the clothes on hangers, secure groups with a rubber band, poke a hole in the bottom of a bin bag (ideally clear ones), pull it over the bundle of clothes and then lay them on a parcel shelf or on top of other items during the move (they might move around a bit though, so be careful!).
If available space and the number of available hangers is small, then the best approach is to roll out your wardrobe depending on season. Use storage boxes hidden under your bed or in other handy spaces to store your out of season wardrobe.
One tip – although perhaps not the most relevant during this pandemic in which we are all championing leisurewear – is to hang your clothes at the beginning of the season with hangers facing forward and every time you use an item and hang it back do it so that the hanger’s facing the back of the closet. By the end of the season you will probably have some untouched pieces – easy to spot based on the hanger facing forward position – and can become the first place you look when reducing your wardrobe.
If space is small but there are many items to hang, you can double hang your clothes with the help of double hanging hangers or the above mentioned cascading hanger hooks. You can also explore what items can be stored in a different manner – for instance jeans can very well be folded and kept in a drawer.
Add hooks or explore more unusual space that can potentially be used to hang useful items – for instance you can add hooks on the inside of your wardrobe door or add extra rods where possible.
I hope you find my hangers hacks useful and a good place to inspire your next closet declutter. Feeling ready to start organising your wardrobe but unsure where to start? I offer virtual and in-person services to help. Whether you prefer an on-Zoom or in-room approach, simply schedule a free consultation with me – simply use my calendar here to book a first conversation around your decluttering and organising woes.
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