This is the most common concern I’ve heard when people see Higher Hangers, so I wanted to explain how and why it’s nothing to be worried about.
Collared Shirts Work Great With Higher Hangers
Inherently, by raising clothes up higher you are bringing them closer to the closet rod. Most collared shirts that I’ve tried don’t touch at all. The collar naturally has a flat profile keeping it off the rod. Just like when you’re wearing the shirt, the collar wraps around your neck, it doesn’t touch you in the back of your head.
How We Really Harm Our Clothes
On any given day you probably wear a collared shirt for 8+ hours. You’re moving around, sweating, your body oils are emitted, you might even be playing a sport (golf, tennis, hiking, fishing), and it’s being exposed to harmful UV rays from the sun.
Then, you need to clean your stinky clothes so what do you do? I usually do one of two things. I wad them up in the bottom of a hamper for several days underneath the weight of other dirty clothes till laundry day, or in a dry-clean bag to take to the cleaners.
Next, I tumble them around in the washer for 40+ minutes, then again while the dryer is vaporizing the fibers, or the cleaners blast them with harsh cleaning processes.
Ideally I would design Higher Hangers to make hitting the rod impossible, but that’s silly. We’d be back to where we already are with wasted closet space. Everyone’s clothes are different, and no matter what, there would be no solution (besides wasting space) to try and appease everybody for a false (but understandable) concern that doesn’t actually hurt your clothes.
Here’s Why It’s Nothing To Be Worried About
Sometimes the collar might touch the rod but here’s why it’s nothing to be worried about.
Let’s say your shirt collars happen to touch the closet rod. I say touch specifically, because worst case scenario that’s all it is - a light touch. I think the common vision in people’s minds when they’re trying to imagine using Higher Hangers in their own closet is that the collars are going to be shoved up into the rod, bunching up, wrinkling, or otherwise deforming their collars. That’s just not true. It would be impractical and awkward and a terrible design. I recognized this early on and balanced maximizing space-savings while making sure Higher Hangers function just like regular hangers. They go on and off the rod just like regular hangers, but they hang your clothes better and more efficiently.
Worst case scenario, about 1/4” (6mm) of your collar might lightly touch the closet rod. Your closet rod has a smooth finish, there’s virtually no pressure on the collar, and they’re hanging peacefully in a still, clean, dark, climate-controlled environment while not touching the floor or dirty shoes.
Compare that to what we do when wearing and laundering our clothes once more, and you’ll realize that your collars are safe with Higher Hangers.