This Is Why You Should Always Have Extra Hangers In Your Home
The next time a cashier at your favorite clothing store or dry cleaner asks if you would like to keep your hanger, reply in the affirmative — just trust us. And on the off chance that you already have a stash of hangers crowding your closet at home, don't be too quick to get rid of them. Here's why.
Hangers can do a lot more than hold up your freshly-ironed outfits. In fact, Good Housekeeping provided 10 different ways to use the common household item, from de-clogging drains to roasting marshmallows — talk about innovation!
According to the magazine, a simple solution to getting gunk out of your drain involves unwinding the neck of a wire hanger and folding the hook in tighter to form a snake shape. With your brand new homemade tool, you can pull out that colony of hairs in no time and save yourself the hefty plumbing bill. You can also stick several unwound hangers into the dirt to form a DIY trellis to help your plants grow. But that's not all! Here are all of the other ways your lonely hangers are itching to get used.
Surprising ways to use your extra hangers
Hangers are pretty self-explanatory household items — their use is stated in their name. But did you know that hangers can be used to hang more than just your clothes?
The EPBOT blog explained how to repurpose wire hangers into adorable flip-flop holders. All you have to do is cut off the straight bottom part of a hanger using pliers, and then roll the two edges into "U" shapes. If you want to get extra cute, you can add some paint, fabric, and buttons — the blog even went into how to make your own flip-flop storing shelf!
Other ways to use hangers come from Good Housekeeping. To fight static cling, you can run a hanger over two pieces of clingy fabric (or your hair, for their matter) in order to break the static bond. Additionally, if you need a convenient place to put your latest bedtime read, you can bend a hanger into a square and then fold the bottom part up to create a book holder. The magazine suggested hanging the contraption from an adhesive hook by your bed or reading nook for easy access. If you need a cheap activity to do with kids, you can stretch a hanger into an oval to make a mega bubble wand, or unfurl one into the perfect stick to roast marshmallows. The options are seemingly endless.
Hangers also provide the perfect holiday project
If you're anything like us, you scroll past all the homemade wreath tutorials on Pinterest because they just seem too difficult. At the same time, the selection of pre-made wreaths at stores are always too pricey — especially if you're only going to show it off it during the holidays. However, there's a super simple way to make a DIY wreath that only requires three things: a wire hanger, some cheap ornaments, and several dabs of hot glue. The best part is, you can find everything you need at the local dollar store!
According to the Delightfully Noted blog, all you have to do is re-shape the triangular portion wire hanger into a circle, and then untwist the end from the hook in order to string on your festive bulbs. Alternate sizes and colors to add variety, and use hot glue to keep the ornaments in place. Then, if you so desire, you can add some fake Christmas foliage to top it all off! Hang it on the door and admire your handiwork.
You can follow a similar procedure for other seasons, too. On the Idlewife blog, you can get a step-by-step tutorial on how to use all of your scrap fabric to make a gorgeous wreath for any and all times of the year. With hangers, the possibilities are endless.