Hanging Versus Folding: Which clothes should you not hang?

Your favorite sweater has been hanging in your closet for months, and now that the cold is here, you are ready to wear it. Then you notice the weird shoulder puckers and that the sweater is a little stretched out.

What do you do? Throw it out? Maybe turn it into a sleeping sweater at the very least with a promise not to hang your sweaters ever again. But that does not have to be your reality, for with you is a guide to hanging or folding your clothes so they never get ruined again.

Sweaters

Since they easily sag and can be pulled out of shape, it is advisable that you never hang sweaters. Instead, fold them and lay a sheet of tissue paper inside so they do not wrinkle. But if you must hang them for you are pressed for space, fold them lengthwise in half, shoulder to shoulder and hung on a wooden hanger with a piece of tissue paper in between.

Shirts and blouses

The rule of thumb when it comes to shirts and blouses made of linen, rayon or cotton is; ‘No wire hangers allowed’. Use a wooden or a heavy plastic hanger, which is curved and follows the slope of your shoulder. Once hanged, button the second button from the top so it retains its shape while on the hanger.

Delicate fabrics

However, for slippery fabrics such as silk and satin and more delicate fabrics like velvet, raw silk, chiffon, and taffeta that crush easily, use the same type of wooden hanger, but with padding at the shoulders to prevent pointy bumps and hanger-humps.

Leather trousers and skirts

Your leathers should never be folded for the simple reason that folding creates creases and wrinkles, which will be very difficult to get rid of because you should never iron or steam leather. You need to hang them with a clip hanger and use business cards to protect the fabric from the grooves of the clips so they do not leave marks or hang them inside out.

Skirts

Go for hangers with moveable clips for they accommodate most skirt sizes and styles.

Trousers

Look for hangers that have clips for your trousers. If you cannot find those, you may still use the normal wooden hangers but you need to employ the ‘Savile Row Fold’ to prevent them from slipping off the hanger; hold your pants upside down, then fold one leg in through the hanger, pulling the leg all the way down so the bottom hem sits right above the crotch of the pants.

Then, just fold the second leg over the first, and your pants should stay in place—even if you give the hanger a good shake. The downside of hanging your pants this way is that you cannot take them off in one smooth movement, But that is better than finding your pants on the floor closet, right?

Fancy gowns

Long evening dresses and formal gowns, especially those weighted with ornamentation, because hanging can distort their shape should be rolled up loosely, as opposed to folding, and put away in storage boxes with tight fitting lids.