What's Hanging Around in Your Closet?

What do you do with the plastic hangers when you go clothes shopping? Do you smuggle them home? Leave them in the store?

We used to have some of them in our closets but, honestly, they aren't the best hangers. Flimsy, weird sizes that don't look neat and tidy. Not a great deal. Although... some of them do have that flocking on them that prevents your clothes from slipping off. And the ones with the clips are kind of cool for skirts and stuff.

I think these were more popular for pilfering back in the day when wire hangers ruled. Single wire hangers are NOT good for clothes long-term so... back in the day... if we could smuggle one of these plastic store hangers home... that was a bonus!

But apparently over 100,000,000 of these flimsy plastic hangers get tossed away every year, in the UK. If we look at the USA... that number balloons to over 8 BILLION hangers (wood, plastic, metal) that are tossed every single year. That's a lot of hangers. And a LOT of plastic.

While these hangers aren't "single-use" plastic... they still aren't built to last. Although... I have to say... I am impressed with thrift stores that manage to get a LOT of mileage out of these hangers!

Mismatched Thrift Hangers

Then you have the plastic hangers that you can buy in a store. You know the ones... they come in an array of fetching colours and shapes.

They are OK. I just wish all of the manufacturers could stick with one shape and style! Our clothes closet has a lot of these and they are a real mish-mash. And somehow... I have this idea that matching hangers are better. But are they?

Because I can't remember the last time we bought new plastic hangers. If ours break or we need more... we just go down to the local thrift store and get a 8 or 10 for $1. Why would we ever buy new!?? And so... we live with mismatched hangers.

Innovative?

Now... we get to the crux of this... I was in Superstore the other day and I saw this sign at the check-out.

Whoooooaaaa... switching from plastic hangers to wooden hangers! Now that is cool! And apparently... the customers think so too! They are asking if they can take the wooden hangers home because they look so cool. And honestly... that is what Superstore thinks too. This is what their press release said in 2021 when they introduced this out east...

"Overall, we feel the look is more elegant and classy,” says Joe Fresh manager Gina Singh. “I believe it makes the product look a lot more appealing.”

So it's really a marketing ploy... but it makes them look good too because it has an environmental aspect. I am going to guess that the environmental impact of plastic hangers vs. wooden hangers hinges on one key factor... how long do they last.  It's the same with grocery bags... we think paper bags are better than plastic bags and that canvas reusable grocery bags are better than the ones made out of tarp-like material. But it all boils down to... how many uses do you get out of them??

Recyclable Hangers?

Another question is... are plastic hangers actually recyclable? They short answer is not easily and it depends. Many hangers are made out of multiple materials - different types of plastic, maybe a bit of metal for the hanger bit and... that flocking! So whether or not hangers are recyclable depends on the type of hanger and the jurisdiction. Our city just recently started accepting hangers in curbside recycling, so that's a definite bonus but... I wonder what happens to them.

In many jurisdictions, however, hangers end up in the trash unless you reuse them. Soooo... it really makes one think about pilfering those store hangers! Are they really going to work in your closet?

Wooden Hangers

Now, when I think of wooden hangers... I think of those sturdy ones that have been around for every it seems. Before thin wire hangers... there were wooden hangers. 

But they weren't cheap... and in our family, growing up, my Mom would use them for coats and maybe for her fancy dresses. But for us kids... we had thin metal hangers.

In terms of length of use... wooden hangers win, hands down. I read one Reddit comment where someone had had their wooden hangers for 65 years. I doubt that can be said about any plastic hangers!

Sooo... wooden hangers are better, yes? Well... yes and no. I don't think Superstore is using vintage hangers from the 1950s. They are getting new wooden hangers... which means somewhere, some tree was cut down to make a hanger. And, although it's hard to see on the Superstore photograph... they look kind of thin and... I just wonder how long they will last. Probably not 65 years.

I was reading another blog that mentioned some companies are making hangers out of recycled paperboard. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Which is good... but it does take energy to turn paper into a hanger.

Gramma's Hangers

I should mention at this point that... we didn't keep using metal hangers. Somewhere in the 1970s, my Mom discovered braided macramé hangers.

You know... you take too balls of wool, two identical metal hangers from the dry cleaners and... you make a sturdy, eco-friendly hanger that clothes won't slide off of. Win-win-win. Even more of a win when you could get the hangers for FREE from the local dry cleaners. 

My Mom was nothing if not frugal and thrifty. And so, of a winter's evening, my Mom, my sister and I would sit and weave macramé clothes hangers. Tidy ones... not the ones with yarn pom-poms and bits of yarn dangling artfully. These are basic, unfrilly hangers. And they work the best. Free. Clothes don't slide off, they last forever, or close to it. Some of mine are pushing 50 years old. And if you take care of them... there is no rust from the metal inside.

My sister gifted me a bunch of these for Christmas a few years ago. Eco-conscious and we'll get lots of use out of them!

Conclusion

Sooo... kudos to Superstore for switching away from plastic hangers but I'm not sure that their motives are purely environmental and altruistic. Hangers made from new wood... nope. Not buying it. They might have done better in saying... "we will be reusing plastic hangers for as long as they last... and we don't care about mismatched hangers". But... that's not very fashionable.

It's the same with some fashion, design and minimalism blogs. Buy cool new wooden hangers that all look the same and... ooohhhh... so pretty... so chic... so... yeah, no.

We'll keep using Gramma's hangers... we'll keep using our mismatched thrift store hangers. We aren't fashionistas... and we will try and get as much mileage out of the hangers as we possibly can. It's not much... but it makes a small difference.