The London Lounge

Does anyone know a good source of clamp type trouser hangers?

I have tried two makes but they both suffer from the same porblem. When the trousers are hung from the end of the leg (as opposed to the waistband) the clamp grips tightly at two points, an inch or two either side of the midline, but does not grip the edges of the leg, i.e. front and back crease, at all. The edges therefore sag and the weight of the trouser does not help to pull out any creases. This problem is accentuated the lighter the cloth weight. Frustrating! Any solutions?

I have now largely abandoned using a trouser press. Maybe mine was just getting old but trousers tended to come out of it worse than they went in - with some nasty looking vertical corrugations. I now hand press myself, with the highly maddening double crease result on occasion. If anyone has any suggestions or could point me to an article on how to press a pair of trousers I would be very grateful.

Sorry if the above all seems a bit trivial but when you are sitting at home with a heavy cold this is what passes for entertainment

Scot:

Google The Hanger Project and peruse the various offerings. You might something you like.

Re: hanging trousers. Whether you choose to hang trousers by the waist or the hem in a straight drop is never satisfactory. It also decreases the amount of usuable space in your closet or cupboard, ie, it makes double hanging garments impossible unless you have 12-foot ceilings and a rolling library ladder. What you need is a proper suit hanger with a non-slip trouser rod attached. Fold the legs of the trousers over each other. That will hold them in place.

But before you put your trousers away after wearing them, drape them over a standing valet for two or three days to return to their shape. Give them a good brush and touch them up with a commercial steamer, not an iron. Allow them to dry, then closet them properly and don't wear them for a least a week.

For your cold, chicken soup really is the best advice.

JMB

You could try those plastic hangers with 2 clips instead of a continuous wooden clamp. You can slide the clips away from the central hook, as far as necessary to grip the hem close to the crease. On heavy cloth trousers with turnups (and always with cords) I only clip the inner layers: the clip is practically inside the cuff and doesn't leave pressure marks.

But before you put your trousers away after wearing them, drape them over a standing valet for two or three days to return to their shape. Give them a good brush and touch them up with a commercial steamer, not an iron. Allow them to dry, then closet them properly and don't wear them for a least a week.

Wow! That is a lot of effort for every pair every time they're worn.

I have to say that in my experience, for wool trousers at least, the creases drop out very quickly and one only needs to apply a steam iron to them every few months to revive the creases at front and back. They are actually very low maintenance. The one exception is when one gets a thorough soaking, in which case the creases below the knees sometimes lose their sharpness and a press may then be necessary.

Ikea has some good wooden clamps!