Hanging clothes instead of folding can save both time and drawer space — particularly for formal wear, where hangers help preserve the garment’s shape and prevent wrinkles. Hangers come in various styles and materials: metal wire, plastic, velvet-coated, rubber-coated and wooden. Each type has specific benefits, making certain hangers better suited for different garments. Selecting the right hanger material can extend your clothing’s life by maintaining its shape and preventing unnecessary wear.
In the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab, we rigorously evaluate garment care and storage products — including closet organizers, clothes steamers, irons and washing machines — to identify the best performers. In our comprehensive hanger testing, we evaluated multiple styles based on key criteria: durability, grip strength and space efficiency. We also assessed practical features like swivel hooks and strap notches to help you make the smartest choice for your closet.
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Pros
- Rubberized coating prevents slippage
- Thin and lightweight
- Comes in 4 different finishes and 3 sizes
Cons
- Do not have strap hooks
These recycled plastic hangers from Neat Method earned a place in our Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning & Organizing Awards thanks to their slim but sturdy design. They are only a quarter of an inch thick, but they are able to hold even heavy coats without flexing or breaking.
They are available in four different finishes, and they come in three different sizes to accommodate children’s clothing too. While these hangers do lack strap hooks, we found that the non-slip rubber coating had enough grip to prevent spaghetti straps and other slippery clothing from sliding off.
2
Best Value
Neaterize Plastic Clothes Hangers 20-pack
Now 15% Off
Pros
- Affordable
- Lightweight
- Include strap hooks for hanging slippery garments
Cons
- Strain when faced with heavy garments
Despite their low price point, these plastic hangers from Neaterize have reinforced corners, which make them sturdier than some other plastic designs. We have home-tested these hangers for over a year now, and we are yet to see one break. However, they still flex and bend when challenged with a thick coat, so you may want to reach for a different hanger for your heavier garments.
We appreciate that they have hooks for holding onto spaghetti straps. They’re available in eight different colors, so finding a pack that will match your closet should be easy.
3
Best Velvet
Amazon Basics Slim Velvet Non-Slip Clothes Hangers 30-pack
Now 14% Off
Pros
- Texture makes them great for hanging pants
- Include notches for garments with straps
- Have a swiveling metal hook to easily rotate clothing
Cons
- Can shed velvet onto clothing
Velvet hangers are a great option for most clothes, but they excel at holding onto shirts with thin straps or scoop necks that are prone to sliding off other hanger types. These thin and durable hangers from Amazon have a lot of grip for slippery garments. The notches on the top are also handy for those spaghetti-strap shirts as well as any other clothes with hanger loops.
These hangers are available in seven different finishes. Their rotating metal hook allows you to flip your clothes around for a closer look without taking the hanger off the rod. We appreciated the wide trouser bar, which makes hanging pants easier. The velvet coating also helps with pants, as they can slide off when hung on other hanger types. As with some velvet hangers, the finish can sometimes shed onto clothing, but it was nothing that a lint roller couldn’t fix.
4
Best for long garments
Cove Long Garment Hanger 5-pack
Now 10% Off
In some closets, the bottoms of long garments like dresses may touch the floor, causing them to become dirty or wrinkled. This is especially true when the clothes rod is closer to the ground, which can be common when it’s installed beneath shelves.
This Cove hanger has a two-piece design that allows you to scoop up the bottoms of long, draping garments to keep them clear of the floor and to keep knits from stretching out. The bottom bar detaches with a simple button press and clicks back into place when you’re done. Both pieces have a nonslip velvet coating, which helps when hanging slippery fabrics like silk, and the soft surface helps to minimize damage to clothing. We liked this design so much that it earned a spot in our Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning & Organizing Awards.
Note that these hangers are wider than average and cost about $20 a piece, but we think they are worth having on hand for a few special garments.
5
Best for pants
Moralve Space Saving Pants Hanger
Now 27% Off
Pros
- Holds up to 5 pairs of pants
- Can hang vertically to save space
- Hook swivels 360 degrees for easy access
Cons
- Expensive
When it comes to storing pants, feeding a folded pair through the center of a hanger can be tedious. If the balance isn’t just right, the pants will slide onto the floor, forcing you to comb through your closet. This hanger from Moralve solves common pants-storing issues by using open hanger bars with a nonslip rubber coating.
Each hanger has multiple metal bars, allowing you to hang up to five pairs of pants. The pivoting hooks on either end of the shiny beechwood frame mean you can hang the pants horizontally or vertically. With both hooks on the rod, your pants hang next to each other, like monkey bars. With one hook attached to the clothes rod, pants will hang on top of each other as if they were on a ladder. The hooks also swivel 360 degrees, allowing you to rotate your hanger without removing it from the rod.
Though this pick is pricey, you are essentially getting multiple hangers, and we think the ability to hang five pairs of pants makes them worth it.
6
Best for suits
Woodlore Contoured Hanger
Now 13% Off
Pros
- Prevents clothing from becoming misshapen
- Cedar wood absorbs moisture and may help repel some insects
Cons
- Takes up a lot of space
Heavier garments like suit jackets can easily become misshapen when placed on narrow or low-quality hangers. Woodlore’s contoured hanger maintains the shape of suits and other garments with a wide frame that mimics the human form. At its widest point, the hanger is 2.25 inches thick. While this is great for helping to preserve your clothing’s structure, it does take up a lot of space, so we think this pick is best used for a few special pieces.
This hanger is made of cedar wood and brass-plated hardware. Not only is the cedar beautiful, it also absorbs moisture and may help repel some insects. If you are looking for an everyday wood hanger, Woodlore also offers a standard wood hanger that is less than half an inch thick.
How we test hangers
When we evaluate hangers in our Lab, we screen for several characteristics. We test each hanger’s sturdiness and durability by hanging heavy coats on them to see if they bend or break. We put nonslip finishes to the test by seeing how easily they can hold onto wide-neck, sheer and spaghetti-strap garments.
We also consider the shape of the hanger. Narrow, space-saving designs are great, but styles that are too sharp or narrow can damage or warp clothes.
For non-traditional styles, we assess how effectively they address obstacles like low-mounted clothing rods. Hangers with extra features like strap hooks, detachable pieces or a rotating main hook earn extra points too.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Noah Pinsonnault works as a product reviews analyst in the Home Care & Cleaning Lab, where he helps design and perform tests on various cleaning and organizing products. To write this article, he tested hangers of various styles to find the designs that are the most affordable, sturdy, space-saving and innovative.
Noah works as a product reviews analyst in the Home Care & Cleaning Lab where he helps design and perform tests on various product categories. He draws on scientific expertise garnered during his time as an environmental researcher, where he managed environmental monitoring equipment, analyzed water samples in a lab and developed protocols for restoration projects. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in environmental science from the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
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