We torture our clothes.  We do.  A handful of you maintain very organized closets (you know who you are), but many people feel satisfied if they can just get the item on a hanger and stuck back somewhere in the closet rather than languishing over a chair or, worse, thrown on the floor.

Want to add a little sanity to your life and preserve your clothes at the same time?  Then let's talk hangers! 

I'm sure you now have a mental image of your own closet and how your clothes are hung (or not).  Perhaps when you open the door you see a pair of pants thrown over a white plastic hanger next to a blouse on a wire hanger, next to a jacket on a squishy padded hanger (you got a set for your birthday).  Or maybe you ran out of hangers so you have multiple pairs of pants on one overworked hanger, a jacket you just got back from the cleaners still with plastic on it, and your favorite sweater hung on one of your children's hangers so it keeps falling off.   It's a jungle in there, and every time you want to get dressed you have to tediously wade through too many clothes because you cannot clearly see what you have. 

If your closet suffers from hanger madness, go immediately to www.besthangers.com and order a box (yup, you'll need them all or share them with your family) of the 17" plastic top hangers (#04666020NI).  (You can also get the plastic skirt/pant hangers if you need them as well #04666050NI.)  It is much more economical to purchase them this way than to buy 3 or 4 at a time in the local store (they generally cost about 3 times more to do it that way).  When you get them, replace all of the miscellaneous hangers (recycle the wire hangers at your dry cleaner).  You'll be amazed at how it will transform your closet!

Okay, how will this make a difference?

• Uniformity. If all your clothes hang uniformly, you'll be able to see and find each item quickly and easily.  Even if you do not get rid of anything in your closet, this will help it look significantly neater and more manageable.
• Smooth the Bumps.  You know those little bumps that appear on the shoulders of your favorite sweaters?  They are caused by your hangers.  If the sweaters are really heavy, fold them.  If not, hang them on these plastic hangers (see above), and they'll be much happier and bump-free.
• Breathing Space.  Wire hangers take up very little space.  As a result your clothes hang closer together.  Your clothes need to breathe between wearings so you do not have to wash or dry clean them as often thereby prolonging their life.  By hanging them on your new hangers you allow (unless you have your closet filled to capacity (please say you don't)) your clothes a little more room to breathe.
• Swivel Top.  Have you ever hung an item only to find that it is facing in the opposite direction from everything else?  With the plastic hanger you just swivel the top instead of having to rehang the item or settle for being annoyed every time you try to see what you have.  (Or, perhaps you are not as neurotic as I am, and this won't matter to you one little bit!)
• Free Hangers.  Well, almost free (you do have to pay for the clothes that come with them!).  The next time you make a purchase at a clothing store, ask them if they will leave the item on the hanger.  Most stores (department stores, in particular) will do that, and they use the same type of hanger I am recommending you purchase.  Keep this in mind for your spring shopping.

You will be amazed at what a difference this makes in the energy in your closet.  If you want to make this really easy, you can even just leave the box of hangers near your closet door and use a new hanger every time you put something back in your closet.  No extra work is involved but over time (hopefully in only a week or so) your closet will be transformed.  And, it will let you easily see what you are and are not wearing so when spring cleaning time comes around it will be a breeze!