1599 Clothes hanger fertility crisis

In the old days I could open a closet and find 5-10 empty hangers. They multiplied like rabbits. My theory was that after laundry day, the missing socks morphed into hangers. They were everywhere. Not anymore. Now I go into the closets and drag out the rejects--the ones that are rusty, or the fragile plastic ones that break under the weight of a synthetic blouse.

About four or five years ago my favorite dry cleaner, the one that made my clothes look better than new, was sold and the stores that now use that name don't do a good job. Plus the clothes reek. My first experience with the new folks required leaving four winter coats in the garage for three months to "gas out." The blazers that I put in the coat closet so my other clothes wouldn't stink ended up making the whole ground level smell funny.

And I think that's probably the source of the hanger shortage. I've started washing all those "dry clean only" items (except my husband's suits which are rarely worn anyway). I took a bunch of sweaters and blazers to a different dry cleaner last spring, and although the odor wasn't awful, it was strong. Then I tried a new "old" dry cleaner and there was no odor, but the spots were still there and the pressing was a whole new wrinkle.

I guess I'll just have to break down and buy some matching, non-rusting hangers. It's time.