Uses for Wire Hangers Other Than Storing Clothes

Plastic hangers seem to have dislodged the traditional wire hanger from its central role in American society. Joan Crawford would positively plotz if she were alive today. Possibly the same thing most people who have moved over to plastic hangers are doing: wasting the great potential invested in all those wire hangers just taking up space. If you still have a batch of wire hangers you don’t use for clothing but haven’t gotten around to throwing away, you are going to thank your little harding heart. If you are still waiting to make the move from wire to plastic, here are some good reasons for holding onto Ms. Crawford’s least favorite means for storing clothing.

Retrieval Device

One thing that old-fashioned wire hangers have over their molded plastic counterparts is the way they can be manipulated to become a multitasker. Let’s face it: a plastic hanger is pretty much good for just one thing. Anyone who grew up hanging their clothes on a bent piece of wire can tell you a story about unbending that wire, shaping one end into a hook and using it to retrieve some object that had fallen into a maddeningly inaccessible place. A wire hanger by itself or connected to one or more additional hangers is extremely useful for working into areas that are otherwise impossible or difficult to get to in order to extricate an object that has somehow wound up where it should not be.

Clearing Away Blockage

You can also straighten out a wire hanger to make it a very effective plumbing tool. Wire hangers can be manipulated down the curve of a pipe and worked back and forth to free up obstructions that are clogging your sink.

Bubble Wands

One or more wire hangers can be bent into a variety of different shapes to create bubble wands of various sizes. Make the shape you want the bubble solution to replicate when you first wave it through the air and then create a straight piece of wire as the handle. As long as you provide a container for the bubble solution that large enough to dip the mold into, you can experiment with creating ever larger and more creative bubbles. As you become more experienced with working the wire into shapes, start adding intricate designs without the mold so one wave of your bubble wand instantly creates a multitude of smaller bubbles to contrast with the giant ones.

Footwear Dryer

Whether the unpleasant moist quality is the result of walking through a puddle or coming straight from the washing machine, you can use wire hangers to help facilitate the process of naturally drying shoes and boots. Unbend a wire hanger so that you can create hooks on either end. Use one hook to suspend the wire and hang the shoe or boot from the hook on the other end. Situate in direct sunlight and allow nature’s heat to dry out your footwear.

Removing Embedded Objects

Any item that has become firmly lodged in the ground and can’t be easily removed using just your hands can make it worth having a few wire hangers around. Work the wire hanger into the ground beside the buried item until you can move it beneath the bottom surface. Then grab the hanger by its handle and start tugging upward. This use of hanger technology is not only effective at loosening up something that has become embedded in the ground, it also keeps you at safe distance from any creepy-crawlies that may calll the dirt beneath that object home.