Your local dry cleaner has served your wardrobe well but has left you with a messy accumulation of wire hangers in your closet. Here’s what we suggest you do with your dry cleaning hangers.

Throughout the years, you’ve carefully selected your wardrobe and accessories. Your thoughtful selection of brand, quality, and style reflects the many dimensions of “you”—professional, parental, social, and smartly casual. Clothing is an investment; you patronize the local dry cleaner who has served you so well and earned your loyalty through many years. There’s only one downside to dry cleaning services—that messy accumulation of wire hangers in your closet.

Sure, they have many practical uses beyond conveying clean clothing. Roasting marshmallows—a quintessential childhood experience made all the more memorable by on-the-spot transformation of the humble hanger. Unclogging drains—a higher-value application of the infinitely configurable metal wire conforming to the exact shape of the drainpipe, and saving you a plumbing bill. Unlocking older-model car doors when keys have been inadvertently locked inside (often in plain sight, making the oversight all the more painful). And, of course, for that object that fell behind a dresser or rolled under the bed and would be reachable if only your arm was two inches longer. Clearly, there are many instances when it’s good to have a wire hanger on hand. However…

Wire Hangers Have No Place in Your Closet

Wire hangers are convenient for conveying suits, shirts, slacks, dresses, or pants from dry cleaner to home. But once home, apparel should be removed from the thin metal threads and placed on hangers specifically designed to properly hold clothing. The common wire hanger simply doesn’t belong in a closet of fine clothing.

Wire hangers are flimsy. How often have you found your freshly-cleaned garment on the floor after having slipped off the hanger? And for suits or formal gowns, the hanger simply isn’t strong enough to properly support them for any length of time. Wire hangers cause creases. A fine silk blouse won’t look its best with creased shoulders. A pair of worsted wool pants doesn’t deserve creases at the knees. And how often have you snagged/ripped a merino knit with the sharp end of a hanger? If you live near the Chesapeake Bay, you know how dampness can cause rust, and rust can cause stains. With all the shortcomings of wire, why keep them hanging around?

Choose Hangers Specifically Designed for Each Garment Type

To avoid these problems, transfer dry cleaning to appropriately designed hangers as soon as you bring them home. (A well-placed valet rod is ideal for facilitating the transfer.) These hangers have the strength and shape to ensure your blouses, skirts, dresses, shirts, pants, coats, jackets, and suits maintain their proper shape, avoid the “crush” associated with too many garments hanging on the rod, and eliminate the rips and snags that ruin clothing.

What to Do With Wire Hangers? Recycling Is the Best Option

As you continue the weekly acquisition of wire hangers, what is the best way to dispose of them? You’re welcome to keep a few wire hangers around for the aforementioned practical and creative uses. But a recycling strategy is the best way to be clean and green. If your community has curbside recycling for metals, simply put the hangers in the proper bin. Montgomery County accepts wire hangers at curbside and the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station. An even better alternative is returning the hangers, as many dry cleaners now accept hangers, and with the impending imported steel tariffs, there’s a chance that they will be all the more motivated to encourage recycling.

Don’t Stop With Hanger Upgrades!

With your hanger upgrade complete, consider improving your closet’s overall hanging and storage arrangements. Enhance the space to be more in-tune with your wardrobe and accessory needs. If all your garments hang at eye level, replace your single-rod with a dual hanging rod (upper and lower) to allow more breathing space for clothing (now carefully hung on the proper hangers) and create additional space for new items. If you have a tall closet, you can obtain better use of available space by installing a wardrobe lift to store seasonal clothes out of the way. Of course, not every piece of clothing has to be on a hanger, and you likely have numerous accessories begging for better organization. Adding custom shelving can make it so much easier to select shoes, handbags, and other items that usually get lost in the jumble.

Step up to the Next Level of Closet Organization

By eliminating the wire hanger problem, you’re contributing to a sustainable world, and more importantly, providing better care for your wardrobe to you look your best, whatever the event or activity. But why not take it to the next level of care and organization? Just as hangers can be specifically designed to provide better care for your garments, a closet can be custom-designed to meet the specific needs of your wardrobe and lifestyle. Our professional designers have years of experience working with local homeowners to create custom closets to meet their unique needs.

Contact us for a free design consultation, and we’ll create the ultimate custom closet to organize and care for your wardrobe.

Lead image source: Flickr user Saim
Image 3 by Flickr user Robert Sheie