We Tried The Simplest Solution To Slippery Hangers And It Costs Less Than $2

We've all been there before: you're happily snoozing away, dreaming of a massive dessert buffet, when you peep open your eyes and notice sunlight streaming through your bedroom window. You're late! You jump out of bed, scramble through your morning routine, and dash into the closet to throw on an outfit for the day. And then it happens: you make one wrong move, and two, three, or four garments slip off their hangers and tumble to the floor. Not cool! If only you had planned ahead with this incredibly simple internet hack to add some non-slip traction to your hangers. 

That's right, according to a simple tip that's being shared around the internet, all you need to solve this issue is a couple of fuzzy pipe cleaners — the kind you've probably played with since preschool. Supposedly, all you have to do is wrap it around the hanger to keep your slippery clothes from having a meltdown. Could a simple pipe cleaner be the answer to one of the world's most common wardrobe woes? We decided to put the idea to the test in our own closet, and let's just say we're definitely hanging on to this hack! 

The supplies for this slip-free hanger hack are incredibly simple and easy to find. If you have any crafters in your home like us, you probably already have a box or drawer full of colorful pipe cleaners. If not, you can pick up a similar pack of assorted pipe cleaners at your local craft store or Michael's for under $10. You'll only need two pipe cleaners per hanger, but you can add more if you'd like. As we later learned, having some additional supplies on hand may also be helpful.While most people who have tried this hack don't mention them, we learned that some masking tape or hot glue could prevent the pipe cleaners from sliding, if necessary.

Next, you'll need to gather up the hangers you'd like to add some non-slip grip to. Don't worry; the hack is totally reversible if you aren't happy with the finished product or if you want more bare hangers in the future. You can use plastic or wire hangers for this project. We couldn't find any wire clothes hangers to test this time, so we stuck to plastic! Finally, we picked a few slippery and strappy clothing items to test on the hangers to see if they really held up to our expectations. 

Creating the slip-free hanger is as easy as pie. Pick up a pipe cleaner and wrap it tightly around one side of the hanger near the "shoulder." It helps if you can hold one end of the pipe cleaner down with your thumb, then use the other hand to wrap around the hanger. As you're wrapping, scrunch and twist the pipe cleaner on the hanger so that it will fit as tightly as possible. Repeat these steps on the opposite "shoulder" to create two slip-free covers. 

That's it! You can add more pipe cleaners if you'd like to provide an even better hold, but it isn't necessary to use more than one on each side of the hanger. If you're worried about the pipe cleaners sliding on the plastic, wrap a bit of masking tape to the side of the pipe cleaner near the corner of the hanger. This will provide a little more traction for the pipe cleaner to stay in place. Finally, give your new non-slip hangers a test drive by hanging a few of your slipperiest garments!

Overall, the pipe cleaner wrap worked quite well and kept tricky items from immediately slipping to the floor! The hack was especially useful for lightweight tank tops, camis, bodysuits, and strappy dresses. However, we discovered that it may not be ideal for every type of slippery garment. Heavier blouses and silk shirts could still make the pipe cleaners slide down the plastic hangers, inevitably leading to clothes on the floor. After a little additional trial and error, this could be resolved by adding more pipe cleaners or a bit of masking tape to the hanger, as described above. 

While the hack was incredibly easy and worked pretty well, it could still come with a few snags. For one, the fuzzy pipe cleaners have a metal wire inside that tends to poke out just a little at both ends. These sharp tips could potentially catch on delicate fabrics like mesh and silk and pull on the fabrics. One solution to this could be to tuck or tape the ends to that they aren't exposed to the clothing. Lastly, we think it's cute, but colorful pipe cleaners may look a little too arts-and-craftsy for someone who prefers a streamlined, professional closet. To help the pipe cleaners blend in, opt for a color that matches your hangers. Having considered those drawbacks, this is still a simple, low-cost solution for one of the most annoying problems in your closet!