Dorie Chevlen is a staff writer at Wirecutter covering all things home and decor. She has spent her entire adult life trying to properly store her clothes in rental apartments with too-small closets. Gregory Han is a longtime Wirecutter contributor and former managing editor at Apartment Therapy. He’s advised countless readers about storage and decluttering strategies, and he once shared a studio apartment and small single closet with his wife.

For this guide, we did the following:

• We researched over 40 different hangers and tested 20 of the highest-rated and most recommended models.
• We interviewed professional organizer Beth Penn of Bneato Bar; Sean Crowley, former senior designer at Ralph Lauren and owner of Crowley Vintage in New York City; and Kirby Allison, founder of luxury hanger brand Kirby Allison.

The best hanger should store and maintain garments without stretching, creasing, tearing, or changing the original shape of your clothing. Hangers come in a dizzying multitude of shapes, sizes, and garment-specific designs. We focused mainly on general-use and space-saving hangers, but you can also find some pant, skirt, and suit hangers we tested in our other good hangers section. Here are some of the criteria we considered:

A fit-all approach: We looked for hangers that would suit most garments. According to Sean Crowley of Crowley Vintage: “It’s swell if you can have a dozen hyper-specific hangers for specific garments, but it works just as well if you find a single hanger that can serve 99% of your wardrobe.”

Nonslip features and materials: We looked for shapes, materials, and features that kept garments from sliding off hangers. Professional organizer Beth Penn recommends wooden hangers with metal hooks—which last longer than their plastic equivalents—and strap notches (like our top pick).

Space-saving features: Hangers with swivel necks offer easier organization in a small closet; tiered-hanging features can also extend a closet’s capacity but can complicate access, too.

Durability: We looked for hangers that would last for years, without any material degradation or breaking. For flocked hangers (the ones textured to feel like velvet), we kept an eye out for any that broke easily or shed excessively. All flocked hangers will shed somewhat, but we eliminated any that shed too much.

After researching more than 40 different hangers, from both big-box and specialty online retailers, we chose 20 of the highest-rated models for weeks of hands-on testing.

We pulled pant bars and hooks with reasonable (and unreasonable) force to assess sturdiness, and we carefully inspected each hanger for sharp edges, exposed hardware, and any wonky construction. We hung clothes on all of the hangers, and we took them on and off closet rods dozens of times, over weeks of testing.

We tested clamps on fabric (and on the meatiest part of our palms) to see how strong they were and whether they left indentations on clothing. We twisted the hooks around and around to make sure they wouldn’t snap off; we weighed them down with heavy coats to assess their strength; and we rubbed velvet hangers between cotton to see how much their flocking shed. And, of course, we also used them in our daily lives, to get a sense of real-world experience.

Our favorite all-purpose wooden hangers, the Proman Kascade KSA9030 Hangers, have been a pick for nearly a decade, thanks to their durable construction and versatile shape. These hangers are also sold on Wayfair under the label Rebrilliant.

They handle different garment types (and many at once). The Proman Kascade hangers are sturdy enough to support heavy coats and pants, but they also have shoulder notches for slim-strapped dresses or tops. The smooth wooden finish and rounded hook ends prevent snagging, making these hangers well suited for a large range of clothing and fabric types. The swivel hook on each has a built-in loop for space-saving tiered hanging, so you can connect several hangers in a row.

They’re made to last for years. The Proman Kascade hangers have been a pick since 2016. In that time, we’ve heard almost no complaints from readers and staff. One staff member uses them to hang wet clothes to air-dry, and even they haven’t experienced wood warping or any finish peeling. Compared with other wooden hangers, the Kascade’s pant bar flexed less when we pulled on it.

You may never need another hanger again. At around $1.90 per hanger, the Proman Kascade is definitely not the cheapest wooden hanger, but it’s cheaper than other similar quality hangers. It’s a great value considering you may never need to buy hangers again.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The Proman Kascade is available only in packs of 50, which isn’t ideal if you need just a few hangers.
• Unlike some ribbed or felted pant bars, the Kascade’s pant bar is slick, so pants can sometimes slide off. But this is an issue with most wooden hangers.
• While the Kascade has standard-width shoulder bars (½ inch), they are probably still too slim for long-term use with expensive suits or coats, where you want to prevent any denting.

The Amazon Basics Slim Velvet Hangers offer the best combination of price and quality for a space-saving, nonslip hanger. Costco’s Flocked Hangers are equally great, except they don’t have a notch for straps, and they come only in packs of 100.

They’re well constructed. The swivel hooks on the Amazon Basics hangers are securely attached and smoothly finished (which means no snagged clothing). All of the flocked hangers we tested shed somewhat in our rub tests, but the Amazon Basics and Costco hangers were the least guilty of this.

The Amazon Basics hangers come in several colors. The Amazon Basics hangers come in six different flocking colors (and three swivel-hook finishes), which is more than for any hanger we tested. If you’re concerned about the velvet finish rubbing off on any clothes, it’s helpful to pick flocking that’s closer in color to the clothes you’re worried about; that way if the flocking does shed, it should at least blend in. (The Costco hanger comes only in black).

And there’s an equally great flocked hanger from Costco. Costco’s Flocked Hangers are just as good as the Amazon Basics hangers, so we recommend getting either, from whichever retailer you prefer shopping at. They don’t have a notch for straps, but we found this feature less important because of how grippy they already are. They’re available only in black and come in large packs of 100. But since they’re about 35¢ per hanger, they’re the best value of any of the flocked hangers we tested.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• Flocked hangers can sometimes be too clingy for certain fabrics, like cotton or synthetic blends, making it hard to take clothing on and off. So it’s not a great all-purpose hanger.
• Like all of the plastic flocked hangers we tested, these will snap if pulled too hard. We wouldn’t trust them with heavy coats.
• You shouldn’t place wet clothes to dry on these hangers (or any flocked hangers in general), since the flocking can shed or become less grippy over time.

The steel and rubber-coated Mawa Space-Saving Hangers are ultra-slim and impeccably made, and they keep slippery clothes from falling off.

They are grippy and durable. The Mawa hangers have a streamlined steel-rod design and grippy PVC-coating that lasts for years. Our tester has been using the Euro and pant hangers since 2018 and has seen no sign of wear or sticky residue on the coating. And, unlike what we’ve seen with some other slim hangers, with these we haven’t seen any excessive creasing on any clothing.

They make closet organization easy. Despite their very narrow build, these hangers do have a hook that swivels, for easy closet organization. And if you’re really tight on space, Mawa sells connectors to link hangers together for tiered “waterfall” hanging.

They come in multiple styles. The Mawa hanger is available in a variety of styles, including the Euro (whose downturned-arc shape prevents shoulder denting in knit fabrics), the Silhouette (which has the better-known shoulder-shaped profile), a pant hanger, and a hanger for draping scarves, belts, or ties. Both the Euro and Silhouette hangers come with or without the pant bar.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The standard Euro or Silhouette (without a pant bar) is about $30 for a set of 10—around $3 per hanger—compared with about 50¢ per hanger for our budget space-saving pick.
• Like most nonslip hangers, with either a rubber or velvet coating, these hangers can sometimes be too grippy for certain fabrics, like cotton or synthetic blends.

If you care about reducing creases in your best pants, skirts, and suits, consider investing in clothing-specific hangers. Here are some of the best ones we tested:

For hanging pants: After testing nine other pant hangers with pants of nearly every weight and fabric, we think the space-saving Mawa KH1 Pant Hangers are ideal. The PVC nonslip coating has just the right amount of grip to hold a variety of fabrics securely in place, sans end hook. Yet pants still easily came off without “sticking,” compared with the performance of other rubber-coated models.

For hanging skirts: Of the three models we tested, the Mawa K30D Clip Hanger impressed us the most, thanks to its narrow nonslip clips and build quality. Mawa’s clips feel secure, and they also take up slightly less physical space than those of the competition.

For hanging suits: The Kirby Allison Luxury Wooden Suit Hanger hits the highest mark for construction, materials, and detailing, making it our favorite suit hanger. For perfect alignment within your suit size, there are four different widths, each featuring a sloped shoulder flare that mimics the body, to better maintain garment form. However, these hangers are big and heavy (each one takes up about the same width as five Proman Kascade hangers aligned side by side). And they are considerably expensive, at over $30 for a single hanger. Kirby Allison offers a 30-day return policy and a one-year warranty.

For a touch of whimsy: If you have an exposed closet or garment rack, and you want to add some color to your closet, we love the neon-hued, translucent acrylic Staff Hangers. Each hanger is super sturdy, with a smooth ball-end hook and nonslip notches, and there’s a smiley face where the hook meets. Though these hangers are pricier than our other picks, we suspect they’ll make you smile too.

General-purpose hangers

Our home editor has been using IKEA Bumerang hangers since late 2017—for everything from winter coats to blazers to silk shirts—with neither an issue nor a complaint. But in comparison with our top all-purpose pick, price reflects quality. In our testing, we found a rough wooden finish, inconsistent construction, and a weakly secured pant bar to be common.

Kirby Allison’s very expensive Women’s Blouse & Sweater Hanger with Clips (Profile B1) is designed with a smaller shoulder width and a sharper arm angle. The 1.15-inch shoulder flare is flocked at the ends, and the notches are covered in felt flocking to further prevent slipping. This hanger also has clips for skirts with ribbed rubber clamps. This is a beautiful fine-garment hanger for delicate blouses, but at $22 each (at the time of publication), the Profile B1 is not worth it for most people.

We previously recommended the Container Store Basic Natural Wood Hangers, but they have been discontinued.

Space-saving hangers

The Container Store’s Non-Slip Velvet Hangers performed just as well as our pick from Amazon Basics, and we like that you can buy them in smaller quantities (a case of 10). They also come in two design options: shirt (with no pant bar) or suit (with pant bar). But they’re a little more expensive and harder to find in stock. We also noticed that shortly after we purchased ours, the reviews have gotten significantly worse.

The Tosnail Super Grippy Slip-Reducing Contour Shirt Hangers look like a knockoff of the Mawa hangers. But some reviewers complained that the rubber coating was too sticky, and others said this hanger was too large for small tops.

Target’s Brightroom Flocked Hangers shed worse than any other flocked hangers we tested, leaving black residue on cotton with very little pressure applied. We rejected these immediately.

We were hopeful that the Hangers.com Flocked Wood Top Hanger W/ Notches could be the Goldilocks of hangers: the sturdiness of wood with the grippines of velvet. The wooden part feels sturdy enough, but the hook looks unfinished, feels loose, and has sharp edges that can catch. The stem of the hook is also very short. And these hangers are about seven times more expensive than our Amazon Basics pick.

We previously recommended the Joy Mangano Huggable Hangers, but they’ve been discontinued.

Pant and skirt hangers

The Container Store Chrome Metal Pant Hangers used to be our pant hanger pick, but they’ve been discontinued. If you can still find them in-store, they’re an excellent choice.

The JS Hanger Slacks Pant Hangers’ biggest drawback is the sticky rubber coating on the pant bar. In our testing it was a dust magnet that transferred lint onto darker fabrics. And we had to remove the hanger from the rod to retrieve our pants, defeating the convenience of an open-end design.

We liked the felt-lined trouser grip of Kirby Allison’s Luxury Wooden Clamping Trouser Hanger, which is designed for storing pants upside down from the cuff, reducing the formation of wrinkles. But it’s expensive and really only useful for dress slacks.

The reinforced and solid construction of the Butler Luxury Trouser Hanger is nice, but it’s almost double the normal width. They’re less expensive than the Kirby Allison trouser hanger, but the opening for slotting pants in is a bit too narrow.

The Whitmor Ebony Chrome Add-On Skirt/Slack Hanger has a tier hook that protrudes, causing dimples in skirts.

Suit and coat hangers

The Butler Luxury Tailor Made Suit Hanger has noticeably less-rounded and rougher finished ends in comparison with Kirby Allison’s Suit Hangers. It’s big and bulky, and only a few would fit in our closet.

The Container Store Superior Natural Wooden Coat and Suit Hanger is available only in 18-inch models, for suit sizes 43 to 48. We dismissed it because of its inflexibility in sizing, but if 43 to 48 is your size, and you need a more budget-friendly suit hanger, this would be a good option.

The Wooden Hangers USA 18″ Ultimate Wide Suit Hanger is designed to hold extra-large suits, but our hanger’s pant bar had visible gaps and rough edges.

Original reporting by Alex Arpaia and Katie Okamoto. This article was edited by Daniela Gorny and Christine Ryan.