Many dry cleaners remove hangers and reuse them. Some dry cleaners also remove plastic bags for reuse or pick them up on site for recycling. Dozens of cross-arm wire hangers in our pre-dry cleaning travel closet that we really don't know what to do with. Now the dry cleaning industry is kindly asking us to return them.
You return them the next time you go to the dry cleaner. That's reuse, which is even better than recycling. Don't place wire or plastic hangers in your blue recycling bin; hangers clog equipment in the recycling plant. Recycling containers are for bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and hard plastics, such as plastic cups and molded plastic containers.
With all the plastic film and toxic chemicals, dry-cleaning clothes can be a futile process. You'll also likely end up with a surplus of wire hangers that get rid of trash after a day of use. The easiest way to deal with the pile of dry-cleaning hangers is to simply return them to the dry cleaner. Many dry cleaners didn't survive the pandemic, as the business disappeared overnight and for a long period.
You can't get the product, Peter Blake, executive director of the Southeastern Manufacturers Association (SEFA), tells the trade magazine American Dry Cleaner. So what to do if you want to make the experience completely green by eliminating dry-cleaning chemicals and recycling hangers? If that search proves difficult, do the following and ask your local dry cleaner if they accept used hangers (bring a clothes bag to avoid wasting plastic film if you also leave clothes). When I go to pick up the suit I bring my own hanger and immediately change it and return the metal one to the dry cleaner. The sharp increase in demand has put unprecedented pressure on the supply chain and is something that both cleaners and suppliers have never had to deal with before.
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