DIY Kilt Hangars

[Frozen]

Inspired by the kilt hangars that USA Kilts have in their store, I decided to make a couple of my own. The big complaint about cheap pant hangars seems to be sagging and pleat splay. I think adding more clips solves that problem.

I scavenged the clips and the metal hook from some Dollar Store hangars. For $2 you get more than enough clips for one hangar. The 5/16" metal rod is from Canadian Tire and is perfect for the clips to snap onto. This one is oak, but I think I'll make the second one from aromatic cedar.

The length is generous, but still fits in my closets.

[Navy87Guy]

Just for comparison's sake, what do you figure your DIY hanger costs in materials?

[Frozen]

I had all of the materials on hand except the plastic clips. If I had to ballpark a guess, maybe $5 per hangar if you had to buy the rod.

My hooks came from cheap broken hangars that were discarded.
My clips were from the dollar store and cost $2 for enough for both hangars.
The metal rod is likely around $6 for enough to make two. You'd want something that won't oxidize/rust.
The wood wouldn't have to be hardwood, so you could get away with something cheap.

I don't know what wood prices are like in your area, but things are nuts here in this post-Covid-onset era.

[Steve Ashton]

While I applaud your work there is a much simpler and less expensive way to hang kilts so that they hang wrinkle free and do not fall off the hangers.

You can use almost any hanger that you already have in your house. All they need is some form of clip. Plastic skirt hangers, metal, even the wooden pants hangers work equally well.

First open the kilt all the way.



Then fold in half bringing the two apron edges together.



Put one hanger on the aprons and one on the pleats.



Finally fold in half again and hang.



The reason that this works is that each clip is going over only two layers of killt.



I owned and ran a kilt shop for just under 20 years. I was hanging and taking down kilts all day long. I tried just about every hanger out there. Yet I was constantly picking 4 lb wool kilts off the floor.
Wide hangers are too wide for most closets and some dedicated kilts hangers are ridiculously expensive.
I stumbled across this method of using two hangers and it worked so well that all the kilts in my shop were hung this way. I taught it to all my customers and have posted it here many times. Kilts hung this way hang wrinkle free and do not fall off.

One additional perk is that when you are packing for a trip simply take the kilt down, remove the hanger and fold in half one additional time.

[MacKenzie]

I taught it to all my customers...

Works great.