How can I reuse or recycle plastic tube coathangers?

Plastic coat hangerWe’ve had an email from Nise:

Hello, I know you have featured wire hangers, and plastic shop hangers, but how can I recycle/reuse those plastic tube hangers that became ubiquitous in the 80’s/90’s?

Please help, I have several dozens! They multiply when I’m not looking!

They were ubiquitous, weren’t they? I have a good number in my wardrobe too.

If they’re still in good condition, I’d offer them to charity shops/thrift stores – they don’t tend to take the flimsy plastic ones from shops (or at least they don’t around here) but they might be more interested in sturdier ones. Someone on one of the old threads also suggested giving strong coathangers to churches or community centres to use in the cloakroom – these might be ok for that too.

Aside from that, you could use the odd one for a homemade peg bags – but that’s not going to use up multiplying dozens.

Any other suggestions?

Related Categories

household, items

Search for other related items



14 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle plastic tube coathangers?”


  1. Bobbie says:

    One way I keep the hanger supply down is to refuse the hanger when I purchase clothes. Let them reuse and recycle. he he.

    I wondered too, if they could be heated and bent into new forms. That would be cool, wouldn’t it?

  2. Amanda says:

    our local womens & mens shelters will take them all the time….as the clients leave the shelter they are allowed to take them….

    our church has a large congregation & uses them in the coat room…

  3. Purnima says:

    Hi, I collect them and then drop it off at any launderette. they always need them.

  4. Susan says:

    Someone brought a bunch into the gym for our winter coats. Beats the flimsy wire ones that belong back at the dry cleaners.

  5. Marthe says:

    Use them to hang up your jewlery, looks nice and its practical!

  6. I have just used a old wire coathanger (uncoated) in my sculpture, Eurydice http://abscraft.blogspot.com/ but also used the wire from old hub caps that I found on the way to school, old TV wire aerial and wire from a stripped out old suitase as well as galavnised wire that I got at the scrap yard. Caused a bit of stir when I went to buy it – they said Oh, know we don’t buy that, thinking I was trying to sell it to them but they were quite happy to take my money when I said it was on the weigh scales because I was buying from them!

  7. nelly says:

    i decorated a hanger (it wasnt one with the thing beneath like in the picture but o well im sure u oculd do it anyway) for christmas and make it look all beutiful and put it in our cloak room it looks really pretty and is practical too! !

  8. grace says:

    try craigslist (www.craigslist.com) I put an ad up for free hangers and I always get at least a dozen or so inquiries

  9. anna brett says:

    hello

    any free hangers would be gratefully received from a specialist garment manufacturer who needs hangers on a constant basis so please contact me to arrange delivery if you have them!
    thanks anna and you can email me at annabrett.image@zen.co.uk

  10. Claire says:

    Some larger Tesco’s stores have recycle bins for plastic coat hangers :-)

  11. I’m sure you can recycle these at most supermarkets these days.

  12. Truvian says:

    Attach it to a long wooden handle and you have a mop.

  13. Sophomore says:

    Use as improvised cloth string to dry small items: socks, hankies, bras.



Leave a Reply

Your name
Your email (it will not be published. If you want people to contact you, leave your email address in the message too.)
Your website (if you've got one)