Movie Star Enraged by Hanger

Sometimes I feel like the movie star portrayed in the movie Mommy Dearest.   I, too, get enraged by wire hangers.  You can keep all those free wire hangers that come home with the dry cleaning.  I have a hanger preference and I prefer not to use wire.  

18" Shirt Hanger 14.5 ga

18" Caped Hanger 14.5 ga

16" Strut Hanger 14.5 ga

Let me explain why I dislike wire hangers.  The main reason is they overlap each other on the closet rod.  That makes them difficult to singularly extract from the closet rod.  I can't remember the number of times three and four garments fell on the floor when I tried to remove one garment hung on a wire hanger (Of course when you suffer from CRS*, not being able to remember is expected).  Wire hangers are easily misshapen, multiplying the effect of the above problem.  Wire hangers rust and leave difficult to remove stains.  On the bright side, wire hangers are useful for purposes other than as hanging clothing, such as; to fish wires in a wall, unlock car doors through slightly open windows, unclog vacuum cleaner hoses, clean drains and get wax out of my ears.

Other free hangers are those that cashiers in department and discount stores put into your bag on which your newly purchased garments were just hanging.  These could be either flexible flat plastic hangers or the combination flat clear brittle plastic hangers with wire (though heavier than the hangers mentioned above) hooks that hang on the closet rod.  

17" Plastic Dress/Top Hanger

17 inch Plastic Dress/Top Hanger 

A positive point is that the hooks on these flat hangers pivot and can be easily rotated to hang newly ironed shirts on the top of a breakfront, mantle or ceiling fan light fixture (although if you can figure out how to hang them on the moving fan blades you will get your garments dry quickly).  But they still overlap other wire hangers on the closet rod.  Plus they are brittle and tend to break, more so as they age.

Basic Wood Suit Hanger

Wooden hangers are available for purchase.  These are almost identical to the hangers mentioned above except they aren't brittle but do burn when enough heat is applied.  They weigh more than either the wire or plastic hangers.  Which means less time at the gym with the dumbbells.  Wooden hangers have a clear finish coating.  It may be varnish, lacquer or shellac.  All these coatings wear off.  Once the finish is gone the wood can absorb stains or get moldy or mildew.  Any of those conditions could stain your garments.

Suit Hanger with Locking Bar Maple

Some wooden and plastic hangers are curved to keep the structure of a jacket in the correct shape.  These suit hangers also have another part to drape trousers/pants over and usually have another member to lock the trousers in place on the hanger.  I find the curve of these hangers annoying in my closet.  The wire hooks are kind of off-center and do not fit well with the straight hangers.  If all the hangers in my closet were curved they would fit well but a few mess things up.

Soft Touch Skirt/Slack Hangers

Skirt and trouser/pant hangers with clamping actions in either plastic or wood also have wire hooks.  These specialized hangers have their place but again the wire hooks tend to overlap on the closet rod.

That leaves my favorite clothing hanger, non-curved all plastic.  Much thicker than even the heaviest wire hooks these hangers, if thick enough, will not overlap on the closet rod.  Don't buy thin plastic hangers.  Some are not as rigid or as thick as others.  Hollow plastic tubes tend to bend under heavy loads.  Hard and brittle plastic hangers will break under heavy loads.  You need to compare the hangers in local stores.

86g Super Heavyweight Hangers - White

I don't know what that hook is for under the hanging hook

There are at least two kinds of these plastic hangers, one for men and the other for women.  The difference is that the women's hangers have slots or hooks.  These extras are generally for tops, dresses with thin straps and skirts with sewn in hooks.  They help the garments stay on the hangers.  I don't like them because these extras obstruct my garments from easily slipping from the hangers.

Plastic Hanger with Hooks

Extra Large Hangers

Well, I am finished my rant.  So much for my hanger preferences.  


As for me and movie stars?  Upon the birth of our first child we needed to choose a name.  I am of some Russian heritage, my wife some Irish.  So in searching for a name we narrowed the search to names within those two ethnic groups.  I liked Grainne, Maeve, Morrigan and Una.  After some hair pulling and nights of sleeping in separate rooms, our daughter was named Natalie, after the movie star Natalie Wood.

Natalie Wood

This past May our daughter was married.  Her name is now Natalie Woods.

• Natalie Woods •

I wonder if she unconsciously chose her husband because of his surname.  I also wonder if the name choosing process has anything to do with the lack of hair on my head.  You just never know.


*CRS - Can't Remember (hmmm?) Stuff

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved