# Why no wire hangers?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 18, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957 "2010-03-18T23:33:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/1 "2010-03-18T23:33:51Z")
“No wire hangers, ever!”- Mommie Dearest
I’m the person who just hangs his clothes on what hanger is there, so I honestly never understood this. Can anyone explain?
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### Author:  [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/2 "2010-03-18T23:37:40Z")
I assume that a plain wire hanger might cause some clothing to lose its shape. Think of the type hanger that suit coats come on. They are thicker & have a contour.
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### Author:  [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/3 "2010-03-18T23:39:01Z")
Thin weak (girly) clothes, especially knits, will develop lumps in the shoulders where the ends of the hangar are. Thicker wider wood or (today) plastic hangars are less likely to deform clothes.
Plus, it gave Crawford the excuse to beat her daughter with something that really hurt.
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### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/4 "2010-03-18T23:44:02Z")
> [@md2000](#):
>
> Plus, it gave Crawford the excuse to beat her daughter with something that really hurt.
When I saw the movie this is what I took from it.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/5 "2010-03-18T23:47:00Z")
> [@md2000](#):
>
> …Plus, it gave Crawford the excuse to beat her daughter with something that really hurt.
I have it on good authority that plastic coat hangers are pretty damn bad, too.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/6 "2010-03-18T23:49:31Z")
Do you want shoulder nipples? You probably have shoulder nipples.
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### Author:  [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/7 "2010-03-19T00:06:06Z")
My understanding is that wire hangers are for poor people (free from dry cleaners) and nice wooden ones are for the rich. Joan Crawford supposedly didnt like that.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/8 "2010-03-19T00:07:10Z")
One of the things on my “if I ever get rich” list is to throw away every wire hanger I own and buy thick sturdy hangers.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/9 "2010-03-19T00:26:54Z")
> [@md2000](#):
>
> Thin weak (girly) clothes, especially knits, will develop lumps in the shoulders where the ends of the hangar are.
Wire hangers, OTOH, are fine for my manly cotton shirts.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/10 "2010-03-19T00:36:54Z")
> [@md2000](#):
>
> Thin weak (girly) clothes, especially knits, will develop lumps in the shoulders where the ends of the hangar are. Thicker wider wood or (today) plastic hangars are less likely to deform clothes.
In fact, you’ll still see padded hangars (sometimes called “lingerie” or “delicate”) specifically designed to keep the shoulders rolled instead forming creases.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/11 "2010-03-19T00:41:34Z")
Ha! One of the first things my Wife did after we got married was systematically replace the wire hangers in the house with those ¼” thick plastic jobs. I thought it odd. I asked her to leave me some wire ones in case I ever need to improvise a muffler hanger for the plow truck.
One project in shop class in 8th grade was to design a jig and system to properly make a wire hanger on an assembly line. With mine, I designed it such that the hook was a double thick wire wound around itself for strength. I got an A.
Seriously. I got coat hanger design history that my Wife does not understand 😃
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### Author:  [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/12 "2010-03-19T02:33:59Z")
Wire hangers are bad for pants, mens or women’s. They leave a really sharp sidways crease.
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/13 "2010-03-19T03:18:35Z")
Wire hangers are bad. They poke creases where you don’t want them (Shoulder nipples, yeah). They can actually make holes in things. They tangle in the closet. They can rust.
They are very good for wiener roasts and moderately acceptable for breaking into locked cars. You can use them to make xmas wreaths. (Or wreaths for other holidays/occasions, I guess.) But they are not good for hanging clothing.
Even my dry cleaner covers them with spongy plastic thingies, and I get the clothes off of them and onto my nice hangers as soon as I get them home.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/14 "2010-03-19T03:23:46Z")
> [@enipla](#):
>
> One project in shop class in 8th grade was to design a jig and system to properly make a wire hanger on an assembly line. With mine, I designed it such that the hook was a double thick wire wound around itself for strength. I got an A.
Did you by any chance go to Fairwold (now Sanders) Middle School?
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### Author:  [@PopeJewish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PopeJewish)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/15 "2010-03-19T04:35:12Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> Do you want shoulder nipples? You probably have shoulder nipples.
This. I got shoulder nipples in one of my favorite shirts. Immediately got rid of all my wire hangers after that (I get decent plastic ones at the 100 yen store at 4 for a buck, so no need to bother with wire anymore anyway)
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### Author:  [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/16 "2010-03-19T05:08:35Z")
My husband made an Xmas tree out of them one year. We haven’t lived together since January 09. Coincidence? ;):dubious:
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### Author:  [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/17 "2010-03-19T08:04:04Z")
This isn’t in response to the OP, but I think it’s important for people to know that Christina Crawford’s account has been disputed by her two younger sisters. Several of Joan Crawford’s friends and family from those years have defended her. That doesn’t mean that none of it happened or that Joan Crawford was a saint, but she wasn’t necessarily an ogre, either. Here is the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mommie_Dearest).
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/18 "2010-03-19T10:01:05Z")
Wire hangers, bent, were sometimes used in pre-Roe v Wade cases, to give a do-it-yourself abortion.
cite-
> **[Unsafe abortion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_abortion#Method)**
>
> An unsafe abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by people lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards, or both. An unsafe abortion is a life-threatening procedure. It includes self-induced abortions, abortions in unhygienic conditions, and abortions performed by a medical practitioner who does not provide appropriate post-abortion attention. About 25 million unsafe abortions occur a year, of which most occur in the developing world.
> Unsafe abortions ...
Very risky, yet it happened.
A younger actress, a troubled time in her past…
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/19 "2010-03-19T10:39:30Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#):
>
> Wire hangers, bent, were sometimes used in pre-Roe v Wade cases, to give a do-it-yourself abortion.
This was my first thought about what it was referring to. I’m surprised it took 18 posts for someone to bring it up.
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### Author:  [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-wire-hangers/532957/20 "2010-03-19T12:59:43Z")
> [@enipla](#):
>
> Ha! One of the first things my Wife did after we got married was systematically replace the wire hangers in the house with those ¼” thick plastic jobs. I thought it odd. I asked her to leave me some wire ones in case I ever need to improvise a muffler hanger for the plow truck.
>
> One project in shop class in 8th grade was to design a jig and system to properly make a wire hanger on an assembly line. With mine, I designed it such that the hook was a double thick wire wound around itself for strength. I got an A.
>
> Seriously. I got coat hanger design history that my Wife does not understand 😃
A guy I used to work with looked after his brother-in-laws business making wire coat hangers. He used to spend half the day out of the office making deliveries to dry cleaners. Thanks to him I now know far more about coat hanger production then I ever wanted!
I normally move my suits to wooden ones when they come back from dry cleaners. But I always keep the wire ones in a bottom drawer. They’re perfect for cleaning blocked drains, fixing odd things like exhausts and the kids use them for art projects sometimes.
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