8 Uses for Spare Wire Coat Hangers

You may get excess wire coat hangers from dry cleaner's or clothes shopping. If you've already got enough hangers or you're not fond of wire hangers for hanging your clothes, don't just throw them away. There are a number of different uses for spare wire hangers.

Homemade Costumes

Stockpile your spare wire coat hangers for the Halloween or school pageant seasons if you typically make costumes for your children (or yourself). The wires in hangers can be cut and bent to provide the frame for costume accessories, such as fairy or insect wings, animal tails or a large costume that needs to stick out from the body, like a big piece of fruit or a ball.

Drain Unclogger

Use a wire cutter to cut your spare wire coat hangers near the top to one side of the hook. Straighten all of the wire except for the hook. You can then use the hangers to unclog drains, easily scooping out balls of hair, food and scum that clog up your drains. If you can't fit the hook in your drain, bend and twist the hangers as necessary.

Lint Cleaner

Fashion your spare wire coat hangers in the same fashion you do when creating a drain unclogger. You can also use this straightened-out wire as a lint cleaner in your dryer and in your vent for the dryer, scooping out lint that gets caught that you can't usually remove just by cleaning the lint trap.

Art Project

You can use spare wire coast hangers in any way you like for crafting creative art projects. Popular art projects that use wire might include a children's mobile, a sculpture, a dreamcatcher or paper-mache.

Bubbler Blower

Cutting off the hook on the wire hangers results in a long amount of wire that you're free to reshape as you please. If you reshape the wire to include a large hoop on one end, you'll be left with an effective bubble blower. Even if your children lose track of their bubble blower, it won't matter because you'll have spent no money on crafting it.

Hanger for Shoes

No cutting is required to turn spare wire hangers into hangers for shoes. Just bend both ends of the hangers upward and slide the toes of the shoes unto the upturned ends.

Food Roaster

Cut and straighten the wire and you can use it to roast marshmallows, hot dogs, corn dogs and the like over a fire. Just be sure to wear an oven mitt when you do, as the wire can become hot to the touch.

Garden Sign Holders

Cut off small straight pieces (about 3 to 4 inches long) of the hangers and you have a sturdy base for garden signs. Just affix the label onto the small piece of wire. You can also make taller garden signs by using almost the entire length of the hanger (minus the original hook) and doubling back the wire hanger.